Tulloch ready to move past dispute with Leroy Harris

With ever-changing rosters in a brutal sport like the NFL, the man you've had bitter feelings for one day could be your teammate the next.

That's what happened to Detroit Lions linebacker Stephen Tulloch, who found out earlier this week that a guy he believed took a cheap shot at him in a game last season had been signed by the Lions.

Flash back to September when Detroit played in Tennessee against the Titans. The game will be best remembered for a last-second Hail Mary pass from Lions back-up quarterback Shaun Hill to troubled ex-teammate Titus Young, sending the game to overtime before a heartbreaking 44-41 loss.

It was much earlier in the game that Tulloch was called for a personal foul in retaliation of a late hit to his knees by Titans offensive lineman Leroy Harris. Harris wasn't penalized on the play, but did end up being fined $10,000.

Tulloch was still fuming a day later.

“I've known Leroy probably 10-plus years,” Tulloch said at the time of his former teammate in both college at North Carolina State and in the pros for four years in Tennessee. “For him, out of all people, to come at me like that…

"When the official blew the play, he dove at my knees. I got a family to feed. I play the game clean. I want everybody else to play the game clean.

"When the whistle blows and somebody goes and takes out your knees, you protect yourself at all cost. ... I got some other words I want to say, but I'm going to hold my tongue and keep it there."

There had been no interaction between the two before Harris signed a free-agent deal Monday that could put him in the mix at right guard with the Lions to replace departed starter Stephen Peterman.

Tulloch might forgive but he won't necessarily forget, at least not completely.

"There's no place in football for it," he reiterated a couple days ago. "I'm waiting for an apology from him. I know he'll give it to me."

Harris explained the incident from his perspective.

"It was a screen," he said. "It was the bubble screen out to the right. The ball was coming back inside. My responsibility is to go cut the linebacker, which I did. But the ball was incomplete. It (the block) ended up being a little bit late. The whistle hadn't blown yet. The play still was going on. He can see the ball is dead. I can't. My (back) was to it.

"It was a misunderstanding. I wasn't trying to hurt him. He's a good guy. I wouldn't do that."

Harris believes they'll be able to move past their differences.

"We'll get it squared away," he said. "It sort of festered a little bit. We'll get it squashed out. We're good teammates."

Tulloch is a pro's pro, one of the true good guys in the game and an emerging leader on this football team.

"As a professional player, you've got to move past it," Tulloch said. "Let bygones be bygones."

That's not always so easy when a player thinks an opponent has put his health and career in jeopardy.

Time often heals bad feelings, even in the NFL, and it's usually accelerated when the players become teammates again.