As fans of the Baltimore Ravens and Los Angeles Chargers eagerly prepare to see their favorite teams face off on Monday Night Football, the dominant narrative around the matchup has to be the Harbaugh of it all, with John and Jim ready to face each other for the first time. since the Super Bowl in February 2013.
That’s right, after nearly a decade away, partly because of the NFL schedule, partly because of Jack’s youngest son leaving the league to run with his college team, at University of Michigan Harbaugh Bowl III is scheduled for the Monday before Thanksgiving and results. will surely impact the playoff picture for the foreseeable future.
When asked how it felt to play against his brother during his press briefing on Thursday, John celebrated the opportunity because it should be a fun and physical confrontation between brothers.
“It’s a difficult match. This is a very good football team we are playing this week. [The Chargers are] highly ranked in almost all areas. [They’re] a winning football team, very physical, very tough [and an] an extremely well-coached football team – there’s no doubt about that. [Jim Harbaugh] is one of the best coaches of this generation, without a doubt – I believe him. Even if he wasn’t my brother, I would say the same thing. We have work to do; we get to travel across the country and play Monday Night Football.
Well, that was the last time either brother was asked about the game, wasn’t it?
…yeah, that’s not how the modern, narrative-driven NFL works. Luckily, John had some interesting things to say about coaching his brother, because they were always competitive.
John Harbaugh Reveals Jim Harbaugh’s ‘Crab Technique’
Discussing the roots of his rivalry with Jim from their childhood, Harbaugh reveals how they settled their differences as kids, which included some very, shall we say, interesting physical altercations.
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“Before, it was hot. When we were younger it was every day – it was one fight or another. He reminded me a month ago – I was taller than him most of the time, and he eventually got taller, of course. He’s a Pro Bowl quarterback – a 17-year player in the National Football League. He’s a great athlete [and] always has been. But most of the time I had an advantage on him in terms of growth until we were about 18 or 19, and I was keeping him down and all that. But he had this technique called the ‘crab technique,’ he called it,” Harbaugh said curiously.
And he basically got on his back, and he put his hands and feet up there, and he pushed me away with his hands and feet, and I couldn’t reach him. He was really athletic, so I figured out a technique. We had these big brown pillows in our basement that we would lay on to watch TV – these old brown corduroy pillows – and I would take the pillow, slide his feet down, pin him up, then I came back to him. I had forgotten it; I didn’t remember it. But when you’re the little brother, that’s the kind of thing you remember. I take a little credit for his tenacity, I suppose; he’s probably one of the toughest people I know.
Will Jim put John’s Ravens in the “crab technique” on Monday Night Football? Needless to say, the game is a must-play either way, because whatever the outcome, it’s going to be an intrigue-rich game.
