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Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh
says New England's Super Bowl titles are tainted. |
I’m sick
and tired of people from all walks of life, letting their true feelings be
known – only to try and take it all back once they receive a wave of negative
public backlash.
Such is
the case with Baltimore Ravens head cach John Harbaugh, who came out last week
and said the New England Patriots’ three Super Bowl titles are “tainted”
because of their infamous Spygate scandal that came to light back in 2007.
The sad
part in all of this is the fact that Harbaugh apparently feels pressured into
taking back what he said about the Patriots and head coach Bill Belichick –
even though he is 100 percent spot on with his comments about how the Pats are
viewed in the court of public opinion.
Harbaugh
made his comments in an interview on a Baltimore radio station.
"In
the end, everything is brought before the light of day, when it's all said and
done," Harbaugh said on "98 Rock" in Baltimore. "What happens, even the
thing in New
England,
no matter whether those things had any impact on whether they won their
championships or not, they got asterisks now. It's been stained.
"To
me, it's never worth it. You have to figure out ways to use the rules to your
advantage; you have to figure out ways to make the most of everything. We have
new work rules here as far as what we can do and what we can't do with our
players, and we're going to make the most of it. What we're finding is, 'Man,
maybe we can do some things even better than we did before, because these rules
make us focus more on some things that we didn't focus on before.' You just
have to make them work for you. That's what success is in the world. You have
to find a way to do things better than somebody else. But if you're cheating,
in the end, you're going to get discredited. It's not worth it."
Later that
day, Harbaugh tried to clean up his comments in a statement released by the
Ravens.
"While
on the 98 Rock show this morning to talk about the run to honor O.J. Brigance
and raise funds for ALS research, I answered a question about playing within
the rules and referred to the perception that the Super Bowl championships won
by the Patriots and Saints have a stain. My reference was to the perception out
there that came as the result of the league's actions," Harbaugh said in
the statement.
"I
could have been more clear that I was referring to those viewpoints. I totally
believe that the Patriot and Saint coaches and players earned those
championships. Bill [Belichick] and Sean [Payton] both know that."
Nice try
John, but the fact of the matter is that most NFL fans, that aren’t loyal
followers of the Patriots, already believe every single word you said – even
though they didn’t have to be said.
Like I’ve
always said since the incident took place five years ago, just think, ‘the
Patriots won all three of their Super Bowl titles by an identical three points.
If they gained an advantage for even one play because of their ability to
‘know’ the play or plays their opponents were going to run, then their cheating
ways worked like a charm.
I see no
need for anyone to bite their tongue on this issue. It’s pretty clear to me
that John Harbaugh is right … no matter what transpires for the Patriots,
Tom Brady and Bill Belichick from here
on out, their three Super Bowl titles will always be viewed with a ton of
skepticism because of the events surrounding Spygate – and in the end, maybe
that’s just what Belichick and the Pats deserve…an ‘unwritten’ asterisk next to
their league titles.
You know,
I kind of got on Ray Lewis case earlier this season when the former BaltimoreRavens superstar commented on his former team now lacking the locker room
leadership that he and Ed reed provided a year ago en route to the second Super
Bowl title in franchise history.
