Comical - Harbaugh on Taunting

Rice and Pollard are both mouthy punks. Rice with the muscle flexing thing looks ridiculous. Lots of clowns on that team.



Harbaugh on taunting penalties: "I don't understand them"


October 31, 2011 5:37 PM by Dan Kolko 4 Comments




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Bernard Pollard doesn't get why he was flagged for taunting during yesterday's win over the Cardinals.

Same goes for Ray Rice, even though the running back might not be as vocal about expressing his frustration with the taunting penalty he received as Pollard is.

You can include John Harbaugh in the group of Ravens befuddled by the unsportsmanlike conduct flags, as well.

Harbaugh was asked today about the two taunting penalties his team received yesterday against Arizona, and while he declined to delve into the calls in much detail, the Ravens' head coach clearly didn't agree with the penalties.

"I saw what happened," Harbaugh said. "They were both right in front of me. I'm going to have to save (my feelings) for the league, to be honest with you. I don't understand them, so I look forward to seeing how the league explains it to us."

Later on in his Monday press conference, Harbaugh re-addressed the flags on Pollard and Rice, saying he doesn't think those two are the type to showboat or rub success in their opponents' faces.

"We try to play with class," Harbaugh said. "You look at Ray Rice, for instance, this guy is nothing but class. He's been that way from the first day he stepped foot on campus, so to speak. He's a star. And he plays with emotion and enthusiasm. And I look at Bernard the same way. That's the way Pittsburgh plays, and that's the way I think the great teams in this league play. You play with enthusiasm, with emotion, love for the game.

"The NFL has drawn a real clear line on what's tolerated and what's not tolerated, and I think our guys are very good at understanding that, and our guys are very respectful of their opponent. So, we just try to walk on that line."

The Ravens were penalized 11 times for 99 yards during a flag-filled game yesterday, and while they've done a decent job limiting the infractions this year (averaging fewer than 7.5 penalties and 58 penalty yards per game this year), there's the risk that the penalty issues could carry over to this Sunday's game against the Steelers.

Things between these two rivals are always intense and always heated, and if the Ravens make a few mental errors Sunday night, they know it could cost them big-time.

"Penalties are always really important," Harbaugh said today. "It's always a point of emphasis for us. I think what you do is you look at the ones you can do something about, and you correct those. The ones we can do something about, whether it's a false start ... we really didn't have too many holding penalties, but those are always something you look at and see what you can do to correct. Things like that, you do. The personal foul penalties, I'm not sure what I would tell our guys about that, but you try to be careful with that."

 

Doesn't surprise me. Both Harbaugh brothers lack of class. Both had issues at college coaching, and now both have had their issues at pro level.

 

Rice and Pollard are both hot dogs. I wish Antonio Brown would stop doing that stupid first down signal like Holmes.

 

Why did he bring the Steelers up in his mess? We weren't in that game. What a jerk! Now you know we are in their heads.

 

I didn't see Rice's, so I have no idea, but I saw Pollard's and it was 100% taunting! After he helped tackle a guy on the sideline, he got up, stood directly over the guys legs like he was humping him and shouted something at him. You don't do that kind of thing by accident, even if you're blind. It was blatant taunting. Harbaugh's a punk.

That said, we do have our own share of taunters. Brown is bad, but he used to be really bad. Ward does it sometimes, but I think mostly just with the teams he really hates. And not directly in opponents' faces like Pollard. Joey Porter was insufferable when he was here. I wish we wouldn't.

 

Good thing they did not have these penalties because someone gets their feeling hurt when Lambert and Mean Joe were playing.

 

Looks like the author referenced the Steelers with his comment about the upcoming game and they have to avoid those kind of penalties. I didn't read Hairball quoting as saying anything about the Steelers.

 

It is hard to tell because there is no closing quote in that paragraph...I though it was a continuation of Harbaugh's comments.

 

Oh, you're right. I didn't catch that the first time through. I was looking a couple paragraphs later when the author referenced Steelers. That certainly looks like a Hairball quote and he is complimenting the Steelers.

 

My comments are in red in the OP. All the rest is Harbaugh.

 

I also think seeing the way Harbaugh handles these conferencers, he is hoping that the league will listen to his words and they won't be flagged for all of the same penalties this week. Then again, in Baltimore they weren't called for all of their crack blocks and I wish the Steelers would remind the league about that this week.