On Wednesday, Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin was fined $100,000 by the league for his Thursday night sideline incident involving Baltimore Ravens kick returner Jacoby Jones and that news of course got back to Baltimore quickly. Since the fine was handed down, Ravens head coach John Harbaugh has weighed back in on the topic.
“Those kinds of things can happen,” Harbaugh said. “They do happen to coaches, players, and officials. This one just got more attention than most of them. We’ve moved on from that. We’re on to the Vikings now. Respect the process. Respect everybody involved. Certainly respect the Steelers and Mike Tomlin completely. Never really thought for one second there was intentionality there, personally. I think that’s why I was able to make light of it after the game.”
Harbaugh’s comments aren’t really that shocking when you consider that NFL coaches are a fraternity of sorts. In fact, I am pretty sure Tomlin would have had the same reaction had the roles been reversed.
Harbaugh wasn’t the only member of the Ravens to weigh in on the news, either, as wide receiver Torrey Smith had a few things to say about the incident and subsequent fine.
“One hundred thousand dollars!” Smith exclaimed. “One hundred thousand dollars? That’s a lot of money. … That’s in the past. It’s all funny because we won. Had we lost I’d probably be blaming him, I’m not gonna lie. It’s tough, you know. I can’t say he did it on purpose, cause I don’t know what he was thinking. It definitely sends a message across the league.”
In his statement regarding the fine, NFL Executive Vice President of Football Operations Ray Anderson said a modification or forfeiture of Steelers draft picks will be considered after the final order of the 2014 draft has been determined. That still seems pretty ludicrous for the Steelers to have to wait until the after the season is over until they find out what their total punishment will be.
