Even during the offseason the New York Jet’s linebacker Bart Scott finds ways to take jabs at his former team, the Ravens. In an interview with Metro New York, Scott said that “the Ravens aren’t loose anymore,” like they were in his playing days in Baltimore.
“Harbaugh changed everything,” Scott said. “The Ravens don’t operate like the Ravens anymore.” While Bart is clearing just stirring the pot and I hate to give him any credit for actually thinking through his ridiculous insult, he may actually be right.
During Bart’s days Baltimore was one of the most feared defenses in the league. They wore down even the best running backs and slammed their opponents quarterbacks into the turf. The Ravens were always the bad boys of the NFL and they won a championship with that underdog, us against the world mentality. In a lot of ways, that is gone.
Ravens linebacker Terrell Suggs chimed in on Bart’s comments, but in my opinion he didn’t really address what Bart was actually talking about.
“Really Bart, we have fun,” Suggs said in an interview on the NFL Network. “That first year, we had that change and it was kind of weird, but you don’t think me and Haloti Ngata don’t have fun? I’m the loosest guy in the NFL.”
Having fun in the locker room is one thing, but the hard nose, bad boy Ravens that I believe he was referring to are gone. If he was simply talking about playing Celine Dion in the locker room, Suggs has that covered. But I think Bart was referring to the product on the field and John Harbaugh has stressed cleaning up that image.
And in that way Scott is correct. “The Ravens don’t operate like the Ravens anymore.”
