Doug Baldwin on TD celebration: “If I could go back, I’d take it back”
Feb 16, 2015, 11:40 PM | Updated: Feb 17, 2015, 8:17 am
"it was a spontaneous reaction to the course of the game," Doug Baldwin said of his touchdown celebration. (AP)
(AP)
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Seattle Sports
Two moments from the Seahawks’ Super Bowl loss to the Patriots stick out, and neither of them are positive for Seattle fans.
The most obvious is the interception at the goal line in the closing moments that sealed the Seahawks’ fate. The other moment started out pleasant enough, Doug Baldwin hauling in a 3-yard touchdown pass from Russell Wilson in the third quarter. But the way Baldwin celebrated – squatting over the ball, pretending to pull his pants down and simulating defecation – rubbed many fans and media members the wrong way. The NFL wasn’t impressed, either, as it fined him $11,025 for the action.
After two weeks to think it over, Baldwin showed some remorse for that move when he joined 710 ESPN Seattle’s “The Barbershop” Monday.
“In that moment it was just a reaction, and if I could go back, I would take it back,” Baldwin said. “In that moment it was a spontaneous reaction to the course of the game. That’s not typically me, but in that situation that’s just what happened … Personally I didn’t mean anything by it negatively towards anybody. I do regret the fact that it cost my team 15 yards. And to the fans, ultimately I do apologize to anybody who I offended in any way.”
Baldwin also explained how the action came about, and finally revealed who it was directed at: Patriots All-Pro cornerback Darrelle Revis, who covered Baldwin throughout the game and who fell down on the touchdown play after inadvertently being picked by an official in the end zone.
“It’s a competitive situation, first and foremost. And as a competitor, when I’m out there on the field I block out everything other than the guy that’s in front of me, what I’m supposed to be doing, what I’m supposed to be handling. That would be Darrelle Revis,” he said. “I spent a lot of time those two weeks prior just focused on my individual matchup with him, and I put a lot into it.
“In that moment I guess you could say it was just kind of a built-up frustration I was letting out in that sequence, between him and I. Because obviously there was competitive stuff going on in that game, and in that moment I just let out what I felt personally.”
