Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Doug Baldwin issued an apology for his Super Bowl touchdown celebration that drew an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, an $11,025 fine from the NFL and ridicule nationwide.
Baldwin scored a touchdown to give the Seahawks a 10-point lead and dropped the ball, squatted and pretended to defecate.
"I do regret the fact that it cost my team 15 yards, and to the fans, ultimately I apologize to anybody I offended in any way," Baldwin said in a radio interview. "It wasn't about that. I just think it was a competitive situation. So to all the 12s, all the fans, that's not what it's about. So I apologize to anyone if I offended you.
"In that moment, it was just a reaction. So obviously if I could go back, I would take it back."
Baldwin said he meant for Patriots cornerback Darrelle Revis to be the target of his actions.
"I spent a lot of time those two weeks prior to getting ready for that game just focused on my individual matchup with him and I put a lot into it, and in that moment, I guess you could say it was just kind of a built-up frustration I was letting out in that sequence, you know, between him and I," Baldwin said. "Obviously there was competitive stuff going on in that game, and in that moment, I just let out what I felt personally."
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Aaron Wilson covers the Ravens for The Baltimore Sun