Video: John Harbaugh, Malcolm Butler get into it during pregame argument
Sunday’s game between the Tennessee Titans and Baltimore Ravens was an important one for the AFC playoff picture, and tempers boiled over before the opening kickoff.
Ravens head coach John Harbaugh appeared to take exception to a group of Titans players gathering on Baltimore’s midfield logo at M&T Bank Stadium before the game. When Harbaugh walked over to seemingly confront the Titans, Malcolm Butler became animated and started shouting at him. The two were quickly separated.
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The photo below shows how the Titans gathered on the Ravens’ logo:
The Titans had a meeting at midfield before their matchup against the Ravens.
John Harbaugh walked out and shared some words with CB Malcolm Butler. pic.twitter.com/aSdk6cZrLp
— NFL on ESPN (@ESPNNFL) November 22, 2020
As Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic explained, the Titans are known for gathering on their opponent’s logo before the game. They did the same thing before their playoff game against Baltimore at M&T Bank Stadium back in January. Harbaugh apparently felt it was disrespectful, and he and Titans head coach Mike Vrabel had a brief discussion about it after the confrontation.
Gathering or celebrating on an opposing team’s logo is generally viewed a sign of disrespect in football. That’s why we saw one player stopped from doing so in Dallas (see the video) earlier this season.
