Pittsburgh Steelers star James Harrison is one of the toughest linebackers in the NFL, known for his explosive play.

And when it comes to tackling parenthood, the veteran player is proving he is just as fierce.

Harrison, 37, revealed on Instagram this weekend that he had taken back the trophies his two young sons received for just participating in sports.

"While I am very proud of my boys for everything they do and will encourage them till the day I die, these trophies will be given back until they EARN a real trophy," Harrison captioned a photo of his sons student-athlete trophies. "I'm not about to raise two boys to be men by making them believe that they are entitled to something just because they tried their best. Cause sometimes your best is not enough, and that should drive you to want to do better...not cry and whine until somebody gives you something to shut u up and keep you happy."

Harrison ended his post with the hashtag #harrisonfamilyvalues.

While most commenters agreed with Harrison's post, writing comments such as, "Kids today don't know what the reward for hard work is," others disagreed.

"You're their dad and it's your decision, but I couldn't disagree more," one commenter wrote

Harrison, a two-time Super Bowl champion and five-time Pro Bowl player, frequently posts photos and videos of his own workouts on his Instagram page, along with photos of himself with his sons.

A parenting expert says the responses to Harrison;s post show there is no one solution for how to handle praise and children.

"For some children participation is a struggle, so getting a participation trophy is important," said Robyn Silverman, a child development specialist. "For other children, they simply need to learn sometimes you win and sometimes you lose."

Among "Good Morning America's" viewers, an online survey found that 70 percent of respondents believe participation trophies are not a good idea for kids, while just 30 percent believe they are a good idea.
https://gma.yahoo.com/pittsburgh-steelers-james-harrison-gives-back-sons-participation-132517209--abc-news-parenting.html#
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i cannot agree more with this, they take away the kids drive to do better and never have a reason to do their best...

Participation trophies are almost as bad as those "no score" leagues.....kid scores a goal or run or whatever and it isnt even counted.

i blame the liberals...

Great Post... I have to agree whole heartedly, now adays kids have no ambition to strive to be the best in all they do.
Why??? they still get rewarded for mediocre performance..

Thumbs up to dad.

And all the jocks who get team jackets, letters if they play a certain number of games, college scholarships, get Super Bowl rings even if they didn't come off the bench ect. should give all that back because all they did was participate? I doubt it.

I think this guy is being a jerk and self grandizing at his kids expense. Kids know the difference between participation trophies and trophies for when they accomplish more detailed accomplishments.

Just because someone is not a super star does not mean their "smaller" accomplishments can not be and should not be recognized. If it were not for a lot of athletes going out for sports and being the team that perfects the star players by running themselves into the ground practice after practice there would be no curve for the elite athletes to set on top of.

Maybe this guy has had too many concussions if he can not grasp the concept.

no, they get those things because they cared about playing to the best of their ability, not crying about not getting a prize when they didn't try hard...


no, they don't... if you grow being told not to give it your all at anything, you grow up half-assing everything in life...


a true liberal... i think it's you that cannot grasp the concept here... if your teaching kids to not try/be winners, thats how they grow up...maybe your protecting your future whinny liberals?

competition has a winner, or it would not be called a competition. if your not willing to give anything your all when your a child, how can you expect an adult to be successful in life?


if your not playing to win, then whats the sense of competing?


your right, an MVP can be on a losing team, but that has nothing to do with getting a medal for just "showing up"... they get an MVP for giving their all in a sport, not for participating...