Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh made some big headlines this week when he removed his mask to scream in the face of an official, and now, there are calls for his punishment surfacing in the aftermath.
Friday, the NFL Referee Association executive director voiced his displeasure about Harbaugh’s show to NFL Executive Vice President Troy Vincent over the incident, and called for the league to take some action. This was according to Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network.
The NFL declined comment.
The NFL hasn’t commented on the matter but that doesn’t mean there won’t be eventual discipline for Harbaugh revealed in time. Recently, he defended his actions by saying that it’s unrealistic to expect there won’t be moments that masks come off during the heat of battle and admitted his staff has been doing a good job of wearing masks and adhering to the rules.
Overall, it will be interesting to see whether or not Harbaugh gets punished for what played out. It wasn’t a good look for the league, who has fined people before for mask usage in a big way. Whether Harbaugh garners a fine or not is anyone’s guess at this point in time, but there are calls for it at the very least circulating in league circles.
John Harbaugh Mask Removal Video
Harbaugh, who’s been a diligent mask wearer early on this season on the field and off, was spotted by cameras stripping the mask to scream at officials during the early portion of the game after a call.
Here’s a look at how it played out:
Naturally, the move drew a swift and stern reaction from folks on the internet, who immediately called for the Ravens coach to be fined as a result of this. To be sure, the optics weren’t good considering the league is coming down on coaches not wearing masks on the sidelines so far this season.
Will Harbaugh draw a fine and how substantial will it be? One could certainly assume the league will come down on the coach for losing the mask and not maintaining social distance from the referee. If for no other reason, this is likely to happen thanks to the current conversation going on within the league, country and world.
It will be interesting to see if there is any sort of punishment coming Harbaugh’s way now following the very public nature of this event.
John Harbaugh’s Ravens Tenure
Harbaugh has been a great coach during his tenure with the Ravens. Even in spite of the playoff trouble this season, Harbaugh is 128-81 in his NFL career, and has one Lombardi Trophy to his credit. He’s also gone 10-7 in the postseason during his career.
The Ravens have been better off for having Harbaugh as their coach through the years, and that doesn’t change as a result of a bad loss or a mistake such as this. Hopefully, whatever happens, Harbaugh learns and the Ravens bounce back in Week 4.
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