Ravens' Smith says Pats fans harassed him about dead brother

Ravens' Smith says Pats fans harassed him about dead brother

 

It's been a day and a half since the Baltimore Ravens beat the New England Patriots to advance to Super Bowl XLVII, but several Ravens players still seem more focused on the Patriots and their fans than on the San Francisco 49ers.

HARBAUGHS: Focus should be on the players

Baltimore's collective disdain for New England was evident prior to the matchup and immediately afterward. On Monday, safety Bernard Pollard called for Tom Brady to be fined for a slide in Sunday's AFC title game because the Patriots quarterback appeared to kick at approaching defenders.

Now wide receiver Torrey Smith apparently is saying some Patriots fans used their team's loss as a reason to disparage Smith and his younger brother Tevin, who was killed in a motorcycle accident in September.

Via @TorreySmith:

Played a lot of games since my brothers death and I never received as many rude tweets after a win than Sunday...yet NE fans cry about classThe vitriol between the players, fan bases and even players' wives has been more brutal than any playoff rivalry in recent memory. And as heartless and inappropriate as some of the barbs directed at Smith likely were, it doesn't make any sense at this point for the Ravens and their players to devote any more attention to New England until the Patriots come to visit M&T Bank Stadium during the 2013 season.

After the San Francisco 49ers beat the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday, all the team's players seemed to immediately focus their attention on the Super Bowl, as opposed to Atlanta. And it's understandable that the Ravens' win was more personal, with the team looking to avenge last year's AFC Championship Game loss and strike down whatever remained of the so-called Patriots dynasty, but the window to dwell on the conference win and its aftershocks should probably be closed by now.

There's still plenty of time for the Ravens to get focused on the 49ers. It'll just be a lot easier when they stop thinking about the Patriots.