In their own competitive and fiery way, it didn’t really matter who was on the other side of the field. They both wanted to win. It’s all they knew. It’s what they had spent their whole lives in pursuit of for as long as they could remember.
John acknowledged that the brothers almost worked together at Stanford. And Jim pointed out that he worked for his father at Western Michigan and that his father worked for him as a running backs coach at San Diego and for a short period at Stanford in a pinch before a bowl game.
John tried to put it into words and soften it at the same time. “It’s about the teams,” Harbaugh said. “We are fiercely loyal. There’s no doubt. Not just of one another. We always have been. We’re also loyal to our teams. The band of brothers will be our sidelines. I have the Ravens. He has the 49ers. And that will be the band of brothers in this competition.”
Jim was clearly the more agitated of the two and looked relieved when it was over after 20 minutes and a few photo ops.
Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti told Harbaugh that his family would be in town on Saturday, and the coach told him to bring them by for the walkthrough practice at the Superdome. Then Harbaugh thought it would be a good idea to invite the coaches’ families, who were all in town and then, in keeping with the family theme, he requested that all the Ravens players do the same thing. From a logistical and security standpoint, moving nearly a thousand friends and family into the stadium the day before the game was daunting, but Harbaugh insisted that everyone spend the afternoon together. It was a special time, and there was never this kind of opportunity for the team on the road where literally everyone who was important in these young men’s lives where in the same place at the same time. It would be like an All-Star team for all of their families.
John Harbaugh remembered when he was the family member. If Aaron Bailey would’ve caught that ball in 1996 it would’ve been him, his sister and his parents at the Super Bowl in Arizona supporting Jim Harbaugh. John knew just how much pride they had for a son, or brother or relative who was playing in the game because he had been that guy.
What began as a focused practice turned into the remnants of a family picnic as more than 900 brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers and wives and children piled into the lower bowl to watch what was designed to have some purpose.
When the team took the field, the families all rose to their feet in unison and applauded their loved ones in the vast, empty dome.
It was faith, family and football all in one place. Just the way Harbaugh designed it.
Somehow, halfway through the practice Ray Rice ran to the sideline tackled his mother and then Ray Lewis started horsing around and the families piled onto the field for the remnants of a family picnic. Harbaugh quickly ended the practice and pictures were taken, poses were struck on the field at the Superdome and memories were made. Marshal Yanda did the whole walkthrough with a camera strapped onto his head so he’d have documentation of everything.
The emotions gave John Harbaugh extra leverage in his pre-game speech. “Just look at how important this is to your family,” he said.
“It’s the kind of foundation of everything we do,” said Harbaugh, who brought his daughter Alison along for practice. “That has been the whole story line of the whole week. In a sense, that’s how we did it growing up, when we were kids. We grew up around dad’s teams.
“Most of the time in the NFL it’s not that way. Most of the time there is the separation of families, and it’s considered to be a distraction. I think it’s just the opposite. For me, it’s a distraction when people are more worried about their families not being allowed to be a part of it. When the families are included, the kids get to the know the players, and I think guys have a better sense of well-being. I think this ia good example of it”.
