Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaughfound himself in the middle of a situation last week.
During an on-air chat with WIYY-FM in Baltimore on Tuesday, Harbaugh referenced the Patriots' videotaping scandal and touched on the perception that New England's win in Super Bowl XXXVI is "stained."
After Harbaugh's words surged across the Internet, he went out of his way to dial up Patriots coach Bill Belichick -- a close friend -- to clarify his comments and throw water on the fire.
Charlie Weis, New England's former offensive coordinator, didn't receive the memo. When the Kansas coach was asked about Harbaugh's interview, he didn't hold back:
"That's a joke," Weis said on SiriusXM, via ProFootballTalk.com. "That's really, that's a joke. Not even worth commenting on. It's a joke. When people win championships, people win championships. Every time somebody wins they are looking for a reason why the team won. We won because we were the best team in those years. We might not have had the best players but we always had the best team, including 2001 when we beat the Rams when we weren't supposed to have a chance."
The 2001 Patriots captured the imagination. A roster stocked with castoffs and cap-friendly veterans put a hurt on Rams running back Marshall Faulk and did enough to keep Kurt Warner at bay en route to the team's first Super Bowl win. Had the story ended there, we wouldn't be having this conversation right now.
In the Harbaugh interview, he was asked how the Patriots' scandal relates to the Saints' fiasco littering this offseason. The connection between the two is tenuous at best, but what Harbaugh was trying to say at the time stands true: Those who love the game do not respond well to reports of cheating. Harbaugh wasn't judging Belichick or Sean Payton, but history might.
