You know you’re the ultimate Football Guy when you’re giving an incisive play-by-play take on a real-life situation as if it’s a war between gridiron gladiators in the trenches. The main character of Jim Harbaugh’s relayed story was, of course, superstar field general Justin Herbert. As a former quarterback himself, Harbaugh knows the value of a leader keeping cool when the stakes are high.
But with Jim Harbaugh, I feel like it takes more than a paragraph to set up just how zany he is. The ultimate what you see is what you get human being, weirdness and quirks be damned, if there ever was one. Words almost fail to capture Harbaugh’s truly singular personality, so why don’t we let Jim take it away himself? While the Chargers were in Dallas to play the Cowboys in the preseason, they had 11 to 12 players get stuck on the elevator.
Although Harbaugh, of course, credited the Dallas Fire Department for rescuing everyone after about two hours of being stuck, it was his description of Herbert’s demeanor and abrupt, jarring application to football that made this bizarre incident even more captivating to read about.
Chargers HC Jim Harbaugh lauded quarterback Justin Herbert and other players who were stuck in an elevator for two hours at the team hotel in Dallas on Friday night.https://t.co/eLDNgHEpMo
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 25, 2024
“You get in those situations, and it’s a test of wills…I was proud of each of the guys and the two women that were on that elevator. That’s a win. You feel good about yourself. You were challenged. It was a test of will, and you pull it down, or pull it in…
And it was hot… as each person came off the elevator, sweating and some had the shirt off. Justin Herbert, his hair was a little wet. But his shirt was completely dry. That was another thing that blew me away. Justin Herbert’s a leader. He was a rock. Kept everybody calm.”
If you know anything about Harbaugh, this next bit probably will not surprise you in the slightest, but he legit wished he was stuck on the elevator with everyone to go through the adversity together.
Chargers HC Jim Harbaugh on hotel elevator incident: "We dodged a bullet…It was a shared experience, 11 or 12 of our players were there for about two hours. It brought them closer together. I just missed out on being out on the elevator. I wish I could've been there with those… pic.twitter.com/JcijcOCuSQ
— Alex Insdorf (@alexinsdorf99) August 24, 2024
Included a few reactions to this news and Harbaugh’s response to it, which gives you a snapshot idea of what makes the man so compelling.
the quotes from jim harbaugh about the chargers getting trapped in an elevator are the most jim harbaugh quotes that have ever existed. just complete bangers. pic.twitter.com/yCjyt2b3mx
— The Smoking Musket (@smokingmusket) August 25, 2024
If you told us Jim Harbaugh sabotaged the elevator to get his players stuck for a bonding experience, we’d believe you. https://t.co/95d7muT5nl
— RedditCFB (@RedditCFB) August 25, 2024
Jim Harbaugh is talking about his QB stuck on an elevator like he's our generation's, Captain Phillips. pic.twitter.com/3dC4WObPYT
— Zachary Krueger (@ZK_FFB) August 25, 2024
I was trying to figure out why Harbaugh is such an interesting fellow above many other interesting fellows in the football world. Like how do you describe it? Do any of these quotes necessarily surprise me? Not at all. Am I still stunned every time Harbaugh pulls a loquacious stunt like this? Somehow, yes. Because his words could easily be torn from a parody write-up on The Onion, except they’re always the genuine Jim article.
Name me any other major public figure in college or professional football who could, with 100% sincerity and a straight face, convince you that he was being serious when he said he came to respect chickens for “the production that they have.”
Lmao great read from @Danny_Heifetz https://t.co/amFQc8JTBB pic.twitter.com/lNkyIdrOIR
— Ian Hartitz (@Ihartitz) August 20, 2024
Even at the highest level of football and many other sports, coaches grasp at straws trying to motivate their players. Favorite recent example: Bills head coach Sean McDermott invoked the 9/11 hijackers to misguidedly underscore a lesson in teamwork.
Think about the countless stories over sports history where a coach loses the locker room. Zero buy-in from anyone. Then, said coach is unceremoniously fired. You never know, you could fail so spectacularly that your ex-players celebrate a win with victory cigars, in part because you’re no longer around! This recently happened in the Chargers’ own AFC West division. No need to name names.
Harbaugh is one of the oddest dudes to ever achieve the levels of success that he has. With some of the strange stuff he says publicly, you’d think at some point his shtick would grow tired, wear out a locker room, or just not translate very well in general.
That’s what makes Harbaugh’s genius so baffling and thrilling. Every single stop he’s had as a coach, college or pro, has been a raging and unmitigated success. He obviously knows ball. It goes deeper than that, though. Players must respect how transparent and genuine he is, combined with his past successes as a player and coach, that they can’t help but go all-in on the buy-in. If a stuck elevator gets Harbaugh this amped up and deeply contemplative about team bonding, his actual football speeches must be the stuff of legend.
And that, folks, may just be the secret sauce that keeps Harbaugh winning in perpetuity — and attacking every day with an enthusiasm unknown to mankind.
