John Harbaugh References Brother Jim's Wolverines Sign-Stealing Scandal in Joke About Ravens Scouting
As controversy hounded his brother's championship run, John Harbaugh is nipping any such concerns in the bud before they even arise.
While Harbaugh's Baltimore Ravens are excused from this weekend's NFL Wild Card action as the top seed of the AFC side of the bracket, the team's scouting department has a busy couple of days ahead with the road to the Super Bowl getting underway on Saturday.
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Harbaugh has complete faith in his groups, to the point he was making quips about those chasing down his brother Jim.
“It’s going to be interesting in Kansas City,” John Harbaugh said in video from Shawn Stepner of ABC Baltimore. “It’s going to be interesting. We’ve got some scouts whose flights have been canceled going out there, who are trying to scout the game, which is legal in pro football, by the way.”
John's joke is a not-so-subtle jab at critics of his brother Jim, the head football coach at the University of Michigan. Jim was forced to miss three games late in the season due to accusations of sign-stealing stemming from illegal in-person scouting, which is banned at the college level.
Redemption was found on Monday, as Jim's Wolverines rolled to a collegiate national championship over the Washington Huskies at NRG Stadium in Houston. John and the duo's parents Jack and Jackie were among the thousands in attendance to watch the Wolverines take a 34-13 decision in the finale of the College Football Playoff tournament.
An AFC doubleheader takes over the Saturday slate, with Houston hosting Cleveland before Kansas City battles Miami. The Wild Card trio wraps with Pittsburgh traveling to Buffalo on Sunday. As the top seed facing numerical realignment, Baltimore will face the lowest seed remaining among the three victors.
Throughout the week, the conversation around the Wild Card games, particularly the matches in Buffalo and Kansas City, has partly centered around winter weather concerns. In the latter game, Missouri wind chills are projected to reach 30 below zero as the Chiefs face the Dolphins.
Though it involved downing a purple team, the Ravens certainly hope that Harbaugh's deja vu strikes over the next few weeks. Like the Ravens, Michigan was the top seed of the latest CFP, one that also saw them take down No. 4 Alabama in the Rose Bowl on New Year's Day.
