John Harbaugh Attaches Asterisks To Patriots, Saints Super Bowl Wins

Tom Brady of the New England Patriots talks with head coach Bill Belichick during Super Bowl XLVI on February 5, 2012.

By Terry McCormick, National Football Post

In an nutshell, it sounds as if Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh is a firm believer in the old adage that cheaters never prosper - at least not in his eyes or in the long-run.

According to USA Today, Harbaugh told the Baltimore radio station that the titles won by New England and New Orleans during their respective "Spygate" and "Bountygate" eras were "stained" and needed "asterisks."

"In the end, everything is brought before the light of day, when it's all said and done," Harbaugh said. "What happens, even the thing in New England, no matter whether those things had any impact on whether they won their championships or not, they got asterisks now. It's been stained."

The Patriots were caught videotaping opponents, while the Saints were dragged through the mud of paying players to injure opposing players with vicious hits. To Harbaugh, those things are way out of bounds.

"To me, it's never worth it," Harbaugh said. "You have to figure out ways to use the rules to your advantage, you have to figure out ways to make the most of everything. We have new work rules here as far as what we can do and what we can't do with our players, and we're going to make the most of it. What we're finding is, 'Man, maybe we can do some things even better than we did before, because these rules make us focus more on some things that we didn't focus on before. You just have to make them work for you. That's what success is in the world. You have to find a way to do things better than somebody else. But if you're cheating, in the end, you're going to get discredited. It's not worth it."

Follow me on Twitter @TitanInsider247 and @terrymc13

Terry McCormick covers the Titans for TitanInsider.com

UPDATE: Harbaugh has backtracked somewhat on these remarks.

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Comments

[Rubyredman]

02:27 PM on 05/04/2012

No need for an asterisk! How many team actually won "fair and square"??

The Steelers teams of the '70's were a dynasty, but were also the first team to jump on the 'Roid train. The '80's gave us "if you ain't cheating, you ain't trying" Raiders. Michael Irvin won 3 Superbowls and always had a coke and smile, if you know what I mean. Then you have the "tuck" rule, the worst officiating job ever in a SB much to Seattle's chagrin, etc, etc....

Hey, this is America, where we "talk" about fairness, but really just mean, don't get caught when you win, i.e lance Armstrong.

[Jerry Troutman]

07:23 PM on 05/03/2012

Saints dragged through the mud for bountygate? No,they jumped in the mud on their own and wallowed in it.They got off lightly.

[huffyISaHottie]

04:21 PM on 05/03/2012

Perfect outlet for the haters......GO PATS

[paddy523]

05:59 PM on 05/03/2012

"GO PATS" Back to the Locker Room Where The BIG BLUE WRECKING CREW SENT THEM!!!!.........TWICE!!!!!

[brinash]

02:18 PM on 05/03/2012

The only fact the public can assert about Spygate is that we don't know what happened. Why? Because Goodell very quickly destroyed the evidence. That in and of itself should tell you that whatever was contained in what was destroyed was so damaging that it would have severely tarnished the NFL. I'm projecting here (remember, we don't know the facts because they weren't allowed to see the light of day) but I believe firmly that whatever was in the evidence would have merited the forfeit of Super Bowl titles, and football would have taken a hit similar to what happened to baseball after the '94 strike. Goodell made a good move for the NFL, but committed a terrible blow against openness and honesty in sport. Goodell may be a smart man, but he has the integrity of a two-year old.

[lisaman]

12:18 PM on 05/03/2012

He has since backtracked on these comments.

Being a Rams fan and knowing that the Super Bowl we lost to them is part of "Spygate", I don't really feel cheated. It was a great Super Bowl but the bottom line is, our defense could not hold them in the end. I do not believe the videos had anything to do with it.

[DanoX]

07:32 AM on 05/03/2012

Every true NFL fan, who isn't a Saints or Pats fan, agrees with you coach.

[lisaman]

12:18 PM on 05/03/2012

And you speak for all of us? Or are you saying that if we do not agree then we must not be true fans?

[Maderous]

09:56 PM on 05/03/2012

Yep, if you dont agree, you're not a true fan. Pats/Saints suck and all true fans agree!

[DanoX]

04:00 AM on 05/04/2012

Consider this, Whom do you consider a true NASCAR fan? The ones who watch for the racing itself or the ones who watch for the wrecks?
If you're watching the NFL to see injuries, ESPECIALLY those being intentionally caused (by reason of bounty or not), I don't see that as being a true fan of the sport.

[Bados]

06:57 AM on 05/03/2012

Uhh....Yeah

[opprobrious]

01:36 AM on 05/03/2012

Pro football and sanctimony don't mix.

[Bados]

06:44 AM on 05/03/2012

Neither does taping another teams practices getting caught, then doing it again. But hey they're the Pats so.......

[Livefree617]

07:26 AM on 05/03/2012

What about the Pats hiring the newly fired Broncos coach Josh McDaniel who knew Tebow and all the plays just prior to the SB? Clearly caught on camera during the game with papers..... just sayin

[Jim Firmin]

09:17 PM on 05/02/2012

Harbaugh should look at some of his own players before calling the kettle black -so should his brother.

[opprobrious]

01:24 AM on 05/03/2012

No kidding. It's a brutal sport.

[Bados]

06:45 AM on 05/03/2012

So you're cool with taping another team's practices getting caught then doing it again?

[Gasparilla]

09:01 PM on 05/02/2012

It's forbidden for a reason. Because it gives you an advantage you should not have. No asterisk, but the taint will always be there. Like it or not.

[Bados]

06:46 AM on 05/03/2012

So why no asterisk? There's no taint if it's not remembered. Who's gonna remember the year the Pats got busted for taping other teams practices years from now?

[Gasparilla]

07:21 AM on 05/03/2012

Because you can't say for sure it won them games. And other teams fans will never let them forget.

[DuxMom]

04:12 PM on 05/02/2012

Me again. I will say that I was really surprised by the bounty thing the Saints did. This was a team that came from nowhere to win the SB after Hurricane Katrina had destroyed NOLA. We all rooted for the Saints that SB year. Really sad commentary on locker room culture. Pros should be better than that. It has to be about concise plays on the field, not just trying to injure other players.

[Bados]

06:48 AM on 05/03/2012

It's a culture the coaching staff encouraged yet you failed to mention them. I'm guessing you'll say you meant them too when you said locker room.

[WebSloth]

04:02 PM on 05/02/2012

Giants-2 Pats-0

No asterisk needed

[EZWriter69]

03:27 PM on 05/02/2012

Sorry he backtracked, because he spoke the truth. As he said, it may not be deserved, but the Pats will always have that asterisk attached... poll on ESPN showed that nearly 60 percent of the public believe their titles are "tainted"... you may not like it, Tedy, it may not be fair, but facts are facts, and the fact is, the public thinks your titles should have asterisks.

[opprobrious]

01:30 AM on 05/03/2012

Since when do I care what some percentage of the public thinks? At one point in history 60% of the public thought the earth was flat. Both teams played the games and won them. Unless you can show that what they did was extraordinary to the point that it both made all the difference to the outcome and that other teams are so pure as the driven snow that they would not break the rules if given the chance I'll just have to accept that they've got rings and that's all that counts. This is professional sports. The only rules that matter are the ones that are enforced.

[DanoX]

07:42 AM on 05/03/2012

Saints gave Favre a high ankle sprain with an illegal high-low hit during the NFC playoffs. He was ineffective for the rest of the game as a result. The illegal hit is a proven result of the bounty placed on Favre. Saints went on to win the game. There you've been shown, so shut the F up!

And BTW saying 60% of people once thought the Earth was flat is a false analogy and would earn you an F in any debate course. So that's two Fs for you. Want to try for a third?

[PalaceOfWisdom]

03:20 PM on 05/02/2012

I agree with Harbaugh, but I wish he would spend his energy teaching his own team how not to choke instead of worrying about others.

[GlenRastell]

02:24 PM on 05/02/2012

Always a laugh to read the posts of the whining fans of loser teams. Here's a few facts you all choose to ignore...

No competitive advantage for Patriots.

So common a practice that the Jets were caught by the Patriots doing the same thing. As with other teams caught the cameraman was simply asked to hand over the tape. The Jets went whining to their pal the commissioner for one reason. They are a pathetic excuse for an organization and cannot beat the Pats on the field.

Lastly for the whiners...Are you sure your team has never broken any rules? You better check because when you come down to it most of the Super Bowl winners deserve asterisks

[PalaceOfWisdom]

03:18 PM on 05/02/2012

You might want to invest in a trip to law school. Your attempts to justify cheating are so weak it just makes your team look even worse.

[DuxMom]

04:03 PM on 05/02/2012

Cheating? Or a common practice in the NFL?

[phal4875]

06:08 PM on 05/02/2012

Taping a walk-through is the moral equivalent of jaywalking.