WHEN JOHN IS 3-0 AND JIM IS 0-3, THE HARBAUGH BOWL IS A LOPSIDED NFL RIVALRY
They met with a post-game hug and I-love-you remarks, but after John beat Jim in a Super Bowl, the Ravens overpowered the Chargers and have us asking if Jim is Prince Harry in Prince William's world
They do like each other, with an “enthusiasm unknown to mankind” when NOOO-BODY has “it better” than either guy. For one Monday evening, their sibling fondness didn’t fade as much as it muzzled over a few hours. We watched two brothers in another Harbaugh Bowl when Jim swears John is a real-world Bible character while John — not believing what he reads, evidently — says Jim is misconceived about integrity and Connor Stalions.
Wait. Who’s Prince William? Who’s Prince Harry? Aren’t there any toxic differences?
There could be one today, same as usual. John is up 3-0 against Jim, in a landslide, with the Baltimore Ravens still rattling like championship contenders as Jim’s Chargers look like one-timers in the wild-card round. Before the 30-23 loss, Jim said, “I would lay down my life for my brother, but I would not let him win a football game.”
John won anyway, before they exchanged a midfield hug.
“You’re a great coach and you have a great team,” John said.
“I love you and congratulations,” Jim said.
“I love you, too,” John said.
In Los Angeles, they played in a city where Kim and Rob Kardashian share bitterness while Liam and Noel Gallagher will tour the world with rock-nutty hostility. How can Jim demand a Super Bowl victory to pair with his Michigan national title when John, in 2013, not only has the ultimate ring but beat Jim to win it? And they still like each other? When John has Lamar Jackson combining for three touchdowns and Derrick Henry rushing for 140 yards, while Jim has only a lightning bolt?
What’s astonishing is how both men — John has coached one team for 17 years, as Jim has dashed from the NFL to college and back to the NFL — are still trying with enough passion to stir the nation. The Ravens rallied to 8-4. They could play each other again in January, armed in an AFC postseason when John is trying to flip the Kansas City Chiefs, this as Jim tries to relocate local hype from LeBron James and Freddie Freeman’s home run in the World Series.
For now? “It means a lot. With me being a big brother, I can’t lose to my little brother,” Jackson said. “That’s what I believe: He was thinking about that a lot. We came out victorious today.”
They grew up wrestling. Since then, they’ve played floating table tennis in the pool and meet in massive buildings. Now, as their father watches at 85, the Harbaughs maintain a priceless distinction in big sports. No brotherly duo ever has accomplished more as they face one another. Oh, Dan Hurley wins back-to-back national titles in college basketball as brother Bobby coaches Arizona State. Oh, Jeff Van Gundy faced brother Stan as NBA head coaches. Peyton and Eli Manning duel on “Monday Night Football,” but they aren’t coaches. The Sutters were coaches and general managers in the NHL. For 105 years, the NFL has contested games and never has had two battling brothers.
“Walking off the field at that Super Bowl was like, there will be another day. And then there wasn’t for many years and it looked like I wouldn’t have a chance for another day,” Jim said. “But by the grace of God, I’m back in it and back on a team that has a chance.”
Someone assembled a Harbaugh food table with turkey and pumpkin pie. Last time the brothers faced each other, with Jim coaching the San Francisco 49ers, Colin Kaepernick couldn’t complete a final end-zone pass to Michael Crabtree in a 34-31 loss. Jim created Kaepernick the dual-threat quarterback just before America the Beautiful nailed him. John continued coaching his team, drafted Jackson and pronounced him as better than Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes, saying, “The vision that we have together is that Lamar Jackson is going to become and be known and be recognized as the greatest quarterback ever to play in the history of the National Football League.”
John’s defense also had answers in the crash landing. Almost a dozen years ago, John won a championship and sought Jim for an embrace. “There will be no hug,” said Jim, referring to Winston Churchill, always “defiant in defeat.” Not until three years ago, when Jim and his son were visiting John in Maryland, did they discuss the lost Super Bowl.
“It's okay to talk about that. That was a great day for Uncle John,” Jim said. “We're happy to celebrate that.”
Last week Jim said, “It was tough. But after some time and reflection went by, it's my brother, my best friend, really proud of him, really happy for his success. I mean, it was earned. We played really good, but yeah, sometime after that was my perspective. Nobody could have a better brother. I may be biased in that way, but I really love my brother, best friends, proud of him. He puts God first, he's a great example setter, he's a great son, he's a great husband, he's a great father. And he’s great at what he does. One of the most, if not the most competitive people that I know. I learned so much from him and admire him. His competitiveness (and) his toughness. It's always in his teams where he just makes it, pulls it out of you. Iron sharpens iron, as the Bible would say. That resonates.”
Others wonder about Jim’s innermost feelings, including his father and brother. Doesn’t he have to join Pete Carroll, Jimmy Johnson and Barry Switzer among those who’ve won Super Bowls and national college titles? Will he survive if he doesn’t? “It was kind of left at that over the years,” John said. That’s why Jim rushed back to the NFL after a 15-0 season in Ann Arbor. Each knew the league was preparing a Thanksgiving Week showdown. Neither shied from it, sensing both teams were legitimate.
“This is a big win for our guys. I’m proud of the way they came out and responded. We were down 10-0 and our guys stepped up,” John said. “They really didn’t flinch and kept fighting. They locked in on the details and played good, winning football.”
“There’s the excitement of a big game. I’m sure my brother looks at it the same way,” Jim said. “I’m sure he doesn’t want to make it about him, and I don’t want to make it about me. We want to keep this game about the guys playing in it and be respectful of that and the game itself.”
That much was achieved. Jim lost running back J.K. Dobbins, who once played for John, to a knee injury. “They played better football than we did. They ran the ball real well,” Jim said. “We need better block destruction just across the board, but you’ve got to give them credit. They did a heck of a job.”
As December nears, the league offers four AFC contenders in Kansas City, Baltimore, Buffalo and Pittsburgh and two NFC contenders in Detroit and Philadelphia. If Jackson only played on Monday nights in the regular season, he is 7-2 with 22 touchdown passes, no interceptions and a best-ever 124.4 passer rating. Justin Herbert isn’t there yet.
Walking into the night outside SoFi Stadium, both Harbaughs still believed nobody has it better in life. But John hasn’t lost. Jim hasn’t won.
He’s Prince Harry.
###
Jay Mariotti, called “without question the most impacting Chicago sportswriter of the past quarter-century,’’ writes general sports columns for Substack while appearing on some of the 1,678,498 podcasts and shows in production today. He is an accomplished columnist, TV panelist and talk/podcast host. Living in Los Angeles, he gravitated by osmosis to film projects.