Video of Jim Harbaugh Talking about How He Fell in Love with Football
Good ole Ralph. Never gets old.
We should all be sending Ralph a Christmas card every year.
The first time I heard Harbaugh telling this story was a youtube I found while searching for Harbaugh clips for the hello video I made. Then he gave it at Sound Mind, Sound Body, and delivered it again at the MHSFCA banquet I went to.
I have a similar story except the guy ran for a TD while I figured out where and who I was.
quickly found out I was a far better goalie on the ice than an ILB
Me too. I played 1 day of HS Football and had to tackle a guy 50 lbs heavier and 5” taller than me.
I was destroyed and he ran over me. I quit that day and decided to focus on studying.
Had a similar thing happen to me my first year, but I stuck it out. Started practicing with the LB's instead of with the DB's for hitting drills. Got wrecked for the first year, pretty much, but then started learning leverage. Get low.
Yeah I played DE where I could use my speed to counter my light weight. But one game our MLB went down and coach had me start. I had no clue what I was doing, didn't know how to call the defensive plays, etc. I had never played with the LBs before. Somehow he kept me there for 2 games. But I got trucked a few times due to my size.
In Junior High I was the starting running back and the starting linebacker. The problem was, I was the starting running black during defensive practices, and the starting linebacker for offensive practices. I was essentially a tackling dummy. Our side of the ball had all of the small or non athletic people.
Funny thing, the coach assigned to help the offense shows us the play on an index card we were supposed to run. After about 5 minutes of every play getting wrecked by the starters, our coach gave us a pep talk, which as an adult I am sure was insincere, but it worked. Over the next 15 plays we had about 1/3 of them go for 10+ yards. The head coach kept screaming at the defense and eventually made them run, while we watched and cheered. I made it a few more weeks before deciding my body couldn't take much more and I called it a career.
Guess you weren't wearing a $13 pair of cleats from Sears.
Betcha Bo was over at Ralph's house later that day!
oh man, that is a classic.
and for all the folks that think harbaugh is somewhere on the spectrum: watch that and know he's not, he's just messing with people at those other times, mixing mockery with competitiveness and formulating answers.
Jim messes with people a bit like Yogi Berra used to. And that little guy had a Championship ring for every finger, something no other ball player has ever done. Jim is just a winner who loves football.
We autistics can do public speaking. In fact we can be quite good at it. It just takes us time to prepare. It's things like shove-a-mic-in-your-face interviews where we get extremely uncomfortable.
Lighten up Francis, my comment was more tongue-in-cheek. And you knew that.
No, I didn't. It looked like a sincere attempt at misinformation. I can give you the benefit of the doubt that that wasn't the intention, but it didn't come off that way at all.
And sorry, but I can't "lighten up" about it because, whatever the intention, we are constantly struggling with mis-portrayals and misinformation about this condition.
I've never considered myself on any spectrum, just socially awkward. Any question posed to me that I haven't thought of an answer ahead of time can trip me up. Especially outside my area of expertise.
I don't know if Harbaugh is on the spectrum or not, but I've always thought those who deal with that condition as well as he does as pretty damn smart. Much better than acting like a victim.
I agree with you dragonchild. “On the spectrum” is not a negative thing either. It’s not a choice someone makes and some of the most intelligent and successful people are on the spectrum. So if JH is on the spectrum I couldn’t care less XM.
people rip on JH all the time for that, both people here and of course non-michigan fans. further, i think even the podcasts have chewed on that topic a number of times. its not a taboo subject and it is relevant to our coach.
The point they're making is that "see, he did something normal and fun so he's obviously not on the spectrum" implies that being on the spectrum is somehow bad or undesirable.
Didn't read as tongue in cheek at all, to me...
You like to be offended
Yeesh. Just read what dragonchild said, think about it, do better and move on. No one’s trying to crucify you.
Yo, yo Dragonchild. What I advise the few members of my circle? A great way for OTS people "to get comfortable" with the unexpected, non-rehearsed question? Say a complete non-sequitor and watch the reaction of the microphone holder. It can be quite amusing.
Relay a favorite recipe; repeat a famous movie line; tell the story of a favorite military engagement. It turns the discomfort into something fun. 😉
It has nothing to do with Spectrum. Jim is different based on whether or not it's a friendly crowd. He’s funny and comfortable in a friendly crowd where he knows he’s loved. He’s quirky with an audience, like the media, where someone is trying to get in a gotcha question. Those questions can rightly put many untrained speakers into their head where they are thinking instead of relating.
As far as spectrum stereotypes types I agree with dragon and call BS.
Jim Harbaugh may be “out there” on occasion. But, I’m glad he’s OUR “out there” coach - his passion for football is unrivaled and he expresses it with an enthusiasm unknown to mankind.
So glad that Jack Harbaugh spent $13 on that first set of cleats at Sears to get Jim started.
Ah yes, looking out the side of my helmet through the ear hole. Fond memories. I *knew* that my future was not playing football.
Coach? You are a gem and it's wonderful that you are our gem. Thank you!
Noooooooooobody!
I always picked the tackling line too coach. There's something about that feeling you get when you hit someone hard enough to hear all the air leave their body. Harbaugh's love for the game is unmatched and I wouldn't want any other coach.
Is that the same as hearing football?
Well, he's sharpened that story since the first time I heard it. I love the directness of his communication with kids. He speaks to them on their level, good moving eye contact, light self-depreciation to teens awash in it. Go Jim, Go Blue!
The Story of Ralph.
Tremendous.
I wonder whatever happened to Ralph?
he's a gym teacher and head football coach at Polk High School.
You know Ralph scored five touchdowns and a game once, don’t you?
He gave up football after that tackle. Slimmed up and became better know as Daniel-san
Ralph shot his eye out with a Red Rider BB Gun and had to retire from football in 4th grade
This is fun. Thanks for posting.
Thanks for watching. I've heard the story, but it was fun watching him share it in-person
Great story. It made me proud of coach and proud of the program.
Then the cartoon Wolverine graphic flashed at the end. And now I can't stop considering the purpose of my existence.
Never played in a league -- Mom wouldn't let me -- but we played tackle football during recess back before parents were bubble-wrapping their kids*. Being of slight build I wasn't cut out for the trenches, but I was one of the fastest kids in my class. I couldn't catch the ball for crap, so I was a """self-appointed cornerback""" that everyone ignored on offense. Anyway, I did have a lot of fun intentionally lagging the receiver and then using make-up speed to break up the pass. (I wasn't a popular kid.)
But one time I did cut off the route and catch the ball. Come to think of it, that was probably my best football play. We weren't good players, to put it mildly, but that ball was on the money. I remember having to push my way in front of the receiver and awkwardly pinning the ball to my body, got spun around so I momentarily lost my bearings. When my eyes re-focused I was getting mobbed by my teammates.
I don't know if that was the moment, but at some point football did go from just something we did as kids to something I wanted to do.
*Kind of ironic, Mom was afraid I'd get hurt but didn't know were playing without pads anyway.
Being slow, my QB noted that the other team stopped covering me. So in the 4th quarter, all our speedsters ran crossing routes while I went deep. Left all alone it was an easy catch and trot into the end zone. I will never forget their safety saying, "Oh shit" as the ball arced over everyone to me.
I want to drink some beer with this dude
Chocolate milk might create more interest… and, be careful if you suggest downing that chocolate milk with a Brown Jug burger.
As far as someone on the spectrum being able to deliver a polished public speech, I've seen it with my own eyes. I was diagnosed with colon cancer this week, and my wife's cousin sent her a link to a "sweet story" presented at her church Sunday. We were assuming it was a cancer survivor telling the story. We pulled it up and to our surprise it was my wife's uncle, who is on the spectrum and barely talks at all in social or personal situations, even with his wife. He delivered, without notes, a 15 minute speech that sounded like it was from a professional speaker. He talked about two "God winks" he noticed following his wife's death from breast cancer.
sorry about that diagnosis. serious stuff. prayers.
Rough news on the cancer. Wishing you all the best with your treatment. Hang in there. Treatment has come a long way in the past few years.
Thank you and XM for the kind words and prayers.
Also, my wife's uncle has a PhD in chemistry. He is retired but still works from home doing patent research. He is very good at what he does.
Is there a better “story” you’ve ever heard about how someone was introduced to football and their love for the game was born?
Anybody that has been in a tackling line has counted to see who you are matched up with.Been there done that.
Same here. Except I was the 95 pound seventh grader and Ken was the 135 pound eighth grader. He hit me so hard, my whole arm went numb and I fumbled the ball. I got up to see the coach scribbling in his notebook, what I can only assume to be, “not a running back.” I ended up playing fullback for two years and getting a grand total of 0 carries.