I think a lot of it is Rodney’s reputation as being a hard hitter. When you’re coming in from the safety position the way he does, every hit looks dirty because they’re going one way and he’s going another. It was the same way Sean Taylor would rock people for the Redskins. (Remember when Taylor leveled the punter in the all-star game lol)

Overzealous…overexcited…but I’ve never really felt like he was an ‘NFL assassin’, although everyone has just decided he’s the worst player, so why change. Perhaps they’re all jealous that we have such crazy safety. He’s feared, and he’s good enough to be feared. Whether that fear really should translate to dirty i suppose I’d have to look at some tape, but I only remember one time where I felt he overdid it. (came flying in like a train when a player was clearly about to step out of bounds(why does that remind me of mo lewis…)) Though I don’t know what he was like on the Chargers.

I certainly feel like many players have worse attitudes though.

No way Rodney’s a dirty player. He just plays hard, intense, 100% full speed, and any coach or player would sell his own mother to have a player of his caliber and commitment on their side. Don’t confuse playing hard with an intent to injure, which other players practice on a regular basis…i.e. the horse collaring and the late dives at or below the knees.

He’s the obvious pick because his reputation precedes him. Reading through the linked article, you can find numerous examples of “dirtier” players:

A review of data since 2001 shows Arizona Cardinals safety Adrian Wilson with a league-high 17 personal fouls.

And…

Harrison drew two personal-foul penalties last season. Seventeen players drew more, but none of them earned even one vote from head coaches as the league’s dirtiest player.

So looking at the evidence, at least as presented in this article, would suggest Harrison really isn’t the dirtiest player, he’s just the easiest target.

As far as Wilfork, sticking his fingers in a dude’s face mask is just plain stupid and he should be fined for that. Dumb move. The Losman hit? It could be taken either way when watching the video. He either fell on Losman with his arm out or purposely put his arm out to take out the knee. I’m a Pats homer so I’ll take the former.