Ravens Head Coach John Harbaugh addressed the controversy that arose Sunday night after CBS aired a portion of his post-game locker room speech intended to remain private.
During the speech, Harbaugh specifically told the CBS cameras what he was about to say to his team should not be broadcast. Harbaugh then brought up the fact that the Pittsburgh Steelers lost to the New York Jets earlier in the day as a way to emphasize that the AFC North race was still wide open.
CBS aired those comments, and then issued an apology to the Ravens. The network also removed the video from its airwaves.
During his press conference Monday afternoon, Harbaugh was asked if he was "still ticked off" about the comments being shared with the public.
"I never gave it any thought, one way or another," Harbaugh said. "You like to have your 10 minutes of private time with your team. We're going to talk to our team in an honest, straight-forward way, and tell them what we think. Our guys deserve to hear that.
"I'm quite sure nobody is offended by that. I don't think any other team in the league cares what a coach says to his team in the locker room after the game. I'm not too worried about it."
After every game, coaches and players are given a 10-minute cooling off period where they can have private conversations in the locker room before the media is allowed to enter.
Broadcast cameras are often present during that time frame, as NFL Films is allowed to have a camera in every team's post-game locker room. The broadcast network often has a camera in the locker room as well, and the Ravens media department is also present.
Going forward, despite the mistake by CBS, Harbaugh indicated that he wouldn't ban video cameras from the locker room because "I don't really have the total say in that." "One of the great things about the NFL is the access that the fans get," he said. "You'd like to have a moment with your guys, but I'm not going to say anything in there that I'm going to be ashamed of either. We just take it as we go."
