The Baltimore Ravens are ticked at CBS for airing comments made by head coach John Harbaugh in the team’s locker room after their win over the Tennessee Titans on Sunday.
CBS had cameras present for Harbaugh’s postgame address to his team following the 21-7 win. The network played back some of his comments on the Steelers for their TV audience.
Among the comments aired by CBS included Harbaugh saying of Pittsburgh, they “beat us last week … then they went and got their a– kicked this week.”
The Ravens’ complaint is that that part of Harbaugh’s speech was not meant for public consumption.
“The comments made by John Harbaugh in the locker room following today’s victory over the Titans were meant for Ravens players and coaches only,” Ravens Senior Vice President of Public and Community Relations Kevin Byrne said in a statement via Pro Football Talk. “The CBS-TV crew that was in the locker room was told by Coach Harbaugh that it could not broadcast what he was about to say. When Coach Harbaugh finished talking about various things happening around the NFL and in the AFC North, he told the crew that it could now use what he was going to say. Inexplicably, CBS-TV then aired comments Coach Harbaugh specifically said were not to leave the locker room. CBS-TV immediately pulled the video and apologized to the Ravens.”
Though CBS may have crossed the line by airing the comments, PFT’s Mike Florio makes a good point: by issuing a public statement, the Ravens are drawing more attention to the issue. How many people even heard Harbaugh’s comments on TV? And would anyone be offended by them? Isn’t that sort of talk concerning division rivals expected?
