Seahawks WR Doug Baldwin says Super Bowl penalty aimed at Darrelle Revis, apologizes to fans

SEATTLE – Seattle Seahawks receiver Doug Baldwin shed a bit more light Monday night on the personal-foul penalty he received during the Super Bowl while appearing on the 710 ESPN Seattle radio show “The Barber Shop,” saying it was aimed at New England Patriots cornerback Darrelle Revis.

Baldwin also apologized for the penalty he received on the play, in which he squatted as if going to the bathroom after scoring on a 3-yard pass from Russell Wilson in the third quarter.

“In that moment it was just a reaction,” Baldwin said. “So obviously if I could go back, I would take it back.”

Baldwin had previously refrained from specifying to which player he was directing his actions.

But on the show Monday night he said “that would be Darrelle Revis,” referring to the All-Pro New England cornerback.

“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.”

Baldwin also said another factor is that “I was kind of frustrated I didn’t get more opportunities” in the game, saying that he considered the matchup against Revis to be “a measurement for myself to go up against one of the best players in the league.”

Baldwin added that “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. 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.”

Baldwin also said that while he understands why there has been some anger about his penalty he said “it’s misplaced anger to the fact that we lost. They want to find something to kind of latch on to, and that’s understandable. It’s human nature. But personally I didn’t mean anything by it. “

The apology was in contrast to the Tuesday after the game when he said that “ultimately the only people I have to apologize to is my teammates and my coaches if I think that was the case but my teammates and my coaches they know.”

He added then that: “I was just out there having fun, enjoying the game of football. The explanation, I don’t know. There’s no explanation. You play this game for so long, you go out there, you have fun. Everybody has their opinion.”

Baldwin was later fined $11,025 by the NFL.

Later in the show, Baldwin also launched into a vehement defense of offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell, who has taken a lot of heat for the final offensive play call of the Super Bowl.

Baldwin said observers don’t understand all that Bevell has meant to the team and said “we all take blame for what happened in the Super Bowl and the loss and to put the blame solely on Darrell Bevell is irresponsible.”