Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh defended Lamar Jackson’s character Monday, a day after the quarterback’s vulgar tweet aimed at a fan sparked controversy.
Harbaugh told ESPN that Jackson has “got one of the biggest hearts of anybody I know.”
“[I] just beg guys to not to get into the Twitter world right after the game, especially after a loss,” Harbaugh said, per Jamison Hensley, ESPN. “It’s never going to be positive. It’s not going be a nice place, you know? That’s kind of reflected in Lamar’s response because … that’s not the way he speaks. It’s not the way he talks. It’s not the words he ever uses. I’ve never heard him say things like that before.”
In case you missed the tweet — and plenty of people who saw the NSFW post probably wished they had — Jackson responded to a fan’s tweet after the Ravens lost 28-27 to the Jacksonville Jaguars. The fan opined that the Ravens should “let Lamar walk and spend that money on a well-rounded team,” referring to his quest for a long-term deal with the Ravens after this season.
Jackson responded with a profane message that he did not delete for several hours.
Harbaugh said Jackson never talks like that, and his actions were completely out of character.
“Lamar Jackson, you’ve been around him. He’s got one of the biggest hearts of anybody I know,” Harbaugh said. “You all have seen him the way he treats people, the way he treats kids, the way he treats the media. And he is also one of the biggest competitors I’ve ever met.
“So those kind of conversations he takes very seriously. You get trapped sometimes by someone that’s baiting you just a little bit. And you can’t live there. I think that’s not a place he wants to be and that’s certainly not things that he wants to say.”
It’s nice that Harbaugh had Jackson’s back. Still, what happened Sunday is a bad look for someone seeking a new contract in the neighborhood of a quarter of a billion dollars. Perhaps Harbaugh had the best advice for his players: Stay off social media right after a game.
[ESPN]
About Arthur Weinstein
Arthur spends his free time traveling around the U.S. to sporting events, state and national parks, and in search of great restaurants off the beaten path.