Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker James Harrison apologized Thursday for some of his comments he made during a recent interview with Men’s Journal.

What was most interesting about his apology is whom he didn’t mention: NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. Harrison, of course, ripped Goodell up and down and then back again while also saving some insults for teammates Ben Roethlisberger and Rashard Mendenhall for their performance in the Super Bowl during the four-day interview with the magazine.

Harrison thought better of his comments about his teammates and expressed his regret in a released statement on his Twitter page.

"I did make comments about my teammates when I was talking about the emotional Super Bowl loss, but the handful of words that were used and heavily publicized yesterday were pulled out of a long conversation and the context was lost," Harrison said in a statement released on Twitter. "Obviously, I would never say that it was all Ben's or Rashard's fault that we lost the Super Bowl. That would be ridiculous."

"We all have discussed several things that went wrong in the Super Bowl since that day. What I do apologize for and take full responsibility for is for speaking in such a candid manner to someone outside the team."

But most thought he would apologize for the wrath he unleashed on Goodell, calling the commissioner a devil, crook, stupid, dictator and puppet. About as close as Harrison came to apologizing for any remarks he made toward Goodell came when he expressed regret for using a gay epithet to describe the NFL leader.

Harrison said the gay slur was "was not intended to be derogatory against gay people in any way. It was careless use of a slang word and I apologize to all who were offended by the remark. I am not a homophobic bigot, and I would never advocate intolerance of gay people."

Harrison, the 2008 AP Defensive Player of Year is still upset after he received $100,000 in fines for illegal hits last season. Part of his interview with Men’s Journal Harrison discussed the NFL’s focus on safety and whether or not the safety measures being taken really benefits players. That was enough to get Harrison going.

Contact Terrance Harris at terrancefharris@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter @Terranceharris

(Photo: AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)