Mike Tomlin's college teammate says 'bad blood' exists with John Harbaugh

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Nate Davis, USA TODAY SportsShare
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Ravens coach Jim Harbaugh, left, and the Steelers' Mike Tomlin share a more cordial handshake prior to their teams' meeting in November.
(Photo: Jason Bridge, USA TODAY Sports)

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9:49AM EST December 6. 2012 - You better be careful what you say about coach Mike Tomlin's Pittsburgh Steelers because it could come back to bite you.

His undermanned team [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] Sunday, evidently fueled in part by some two-week old comments from Ravens coach John Harbaugh, and set the stage for Tomlin's drive-by handshake with his counterpart following the game.

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"There's bad blood between these two coaches," said NFL Network analyst Darren Sharper, who was Tomlin's college teammate at William & Mary in the 1990s, on Showtime's [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] on Wednesday night.

"You think about the fact that the teams do not like each other, so that carries over to the coaches because they're the ones preaching to the team before the games. And before this game there was a little bit of an incident in which Coach Harbaugh had some comments after they beat the Pittsburgh Steelers which he knew the camera was on, too."

Sharper was referring to a locker room clip of Harbaugh lauding his club immediately after its 13-10 win at Heinz Field on Nov. 18, the Steelers' first game this season without injured quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.

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Said Harbaugh to the troops that night: "The toughest team won that football game. The mentally tough team won that football game. The better team won the football game. The team that knows how to win won that football game."

Yes, if you're keeping track, Tomlin's team has reached two Super Bowls and won one since 2008, Harbaugh's first year in Baltimore. The Steelers eliminated the Ravens in the playoffs on the way to both of those Super Bowls, and many Baltimore players acknowledge that the lone missing element in the teams' bloody rivalry is the fact that none of them (save Ray Lewis 12 years ago) have rings.

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So hearing Harbaugh deem the Ravens the tougher team clearly didn't sit well with Mr. T.

"Coach Tomlin, like all coaches do, they watch everything. They read the papers — they try to say they don't — they read the papers, they look at television, and he thought that was a message towards his team," said Sharper, who wasn't merely speculating.

"I know this for sure. I talked to Mike, and after the game I asked him about the handshake, and he said that there is some bad blood there. And he did not appreciate what Coach Harbaugh said postgame after the first victory."

If you're watching, Coach Harbaugh, NFL Films captured Tomlin repeatedly referred to his troops as "tough team" as he shook each player's hand on their way into the visitors' locker room at M&T Bank Stadium, which lasted hosted a victor on Dec. 5, 2010 ... that's right, Tomlin's Steelers.