“Joe is very worthy,” said Jackson of his former protégé. “He is a very, very talented player. He’s more talented than people give him credit for. But I know what drives him. And what drives him is winning. He wants to be the best at what he does. It wouldn’t surprise me if he was the Super Bowl MVP. If he calls and says, ‘Coach, we’re going to Disneyland,’ then I would be okay with that.”
From a media standpoint, studying the two Harbaughs became unavoidable during the week of the game. As much as they both came from the same place where the same philosophies and ideologies were employed for nearly half of a century, it became clear that their methods were clearly different in approaching the biggest game of their lives.
The 49ers arrived from San Francisco on Sunday night in sweat suits and T-shirts. The Ravens arrived, after a massive sendoff at the Inner Harbor, in sport coats looking a team off the cover of GQ on a business trip.
The 49ers hotel was at the foot of Bourbon Street in New Orleans. The Ravens were four blocks away at the Mississippi River, not remote by any stretch, but certainly a quieter block amidst all of the usual revelry of The Big Easy and Super Bowl madness with tens of thousands of fans, partiers and tourists running amok in the streets where alcohol flows like a spigot into the wee hours, even on weeknights.
Given John Harbaugh’s usual strict attitude toward football over the years, his attitude toward the Super Bowl was almost laissez-faire.
“Harbs attitude was the more fun we had the better we’d play,” Flacco said afterward. “We always got ready for games the same way in Denver and New England. They felt really normal and kind of like a regular road game to us. We didn’t really feel the difference until we got to New Orleans.”
Flacco had only been to one Super Bowl week, in Tampa in 2009 just 10 days after he lost the AFC Championship Game in Pittsburgh. He was in the running to win the Rookie of The Year award and flat out didn’t want to go. But, he wound up winning the award and managed to sneak in and out of town on the same day for a few NFL obligations.
Like some players – and most coaches – Flacco wanted to abstain from going to the Super Bowl unless he was playing in the game. But he felt the significance of the event immediately when he checked into a hotel with a week’s worth of clothing, something that is very foreign to a football player.
“You start thinking, ‘When are we getting this chance again?’ ” Flacco said. “We have to win this thing. Our whole team’s mindset and attitude was right. We all felt good, like we belonged there. And we were together as a group all day and night. We had dinner together and spent time together having fun. We were very relaxed and took it all in and at the same time, got our work done and focused on going and winning the game.”
Flacco admits it was a long week and the mental part of being a football player in a hotel room for a week is just odd. “It’s very tough to go and block everything out so you almost have to embrace it,” he said. “New Orleans was such a perfect place for the game. You could walk everywhere, and it was easy. I said, ‘Let’s go see some crazy fans!’ I think our whole organization had a great time. Especially our families.”
And then he adds, “I really don’t know if the Niners had fun during the week. But I know we did!”
On the Friday before the Super Bowl, there are usually two press conferences -– one for the AFC coach, and one for the NFC coach. In the past there has been a photo op and a handshake, but never a dual press conference that sometimes resembled more of a duel than a duet.
The Harbaugh brothers finally made it to the podium on the Friday before the game, and their unique personalities and competitive fire seemed to be on full display. John was in a suit and tie. Jim was in a 49ers sweatshirt and baseball cap. John began by thanking the crowd and his grandparents and generally seemed convivial. Jim simply said, “I concur.”
“That’s so him,” said John, later reflecting on the odd exchange. “I concur. I concur? What is that?”
The press conference got a little warmer than that, but not much.
It was awkward, almost uncomfortable at different points because it almost felt like they were both trying to make the other one feel uncomfortable, and if you’ve ever attended any of their more spirited press conferences, especially after a loss or after a question they didn’t like, you can only imagine the intensity of their personal rivalry. Their jobs, their legacies, and most importantly the bragging rights at the summer family picnic in Wisconsin were on the line. It was strange because it appeared as if they didn’t like other, but you know that’s not the case.
