James Harrison $600K Massages And Body Work, Bengals Linebacker Splurges To Pamper Body

James Harrison $600K massages and other body work confession raised a few eyebrows in the Bengals linebacker’s introductory interview with Cincinnati, OH media. He fielded some questions cautiously, but he really relaxed and shared a little of his personality when he talked about taking care of his body.

As Steelers fans already know, the 35-year-old two time Most Valued Player for the Pittsburgh Steelers couldn’t reach a contract agreement with them this year and was cut from the team in March. In late April, Harrison signed with the Cincinnati Bengals.

According to the Bengals transcript of the press conference, when James Harrison was asked about the importance of his body, he said frankly:

“My body is what helps me to make money. Whatever there is that I need to do to try and make myself better or get myself healthy, I’m going to do it. It wouldn’t be unreasonable to say that I spend anywhere between $400,000-$600,000 on body work, as far as taking care of my body, year-in and year-out.”

Now, the story seemed to get a little more colorful as it went around the rumor mill. By the time I heard it, the tale was that James Harrison spent $600K on massages.

And you know what I thought then.

But Harrison freely explained his expensive body upkeep plan. He revealed that he invests an hour a day in stretches, another half hour or so in ice and hot tubs, and then two to four hours a day in massages.

He also said that he has a hyperbaric chamber which presumably helps oxygenate his blood to help him get better performance.

So the whole $600K isn’t just for the massage, although a lot of it is. Said Harrison:

“I have massages and I bring people in from New York, Arizona to where I’m at. There’s that cost…I started off with just one massage person and my chiropractor. Getting massages from different people, probably tried out maybe 150 different massage people. Right now I’m down to…six people…I’ve got a masseuse, got an acupuncturist, got a trainer, got another masseuse and another masseuse and a homeopathic doctor.”

OK, if you’re talking about six experts on call to fly in and give you a massage wherever and whenever, maybe $600,000 a year doesn’t sound so outrageous. I mean, you’re a multi million-dollar Superbowl champion. You don’t want to pay peanuts and get monkeys.

If you and I had a staff that size, maybe we too would have James Harrison’s $600K massage bill.

[Cincinnati Bengals photo by Shout It Out Design / Shutterstock.com]