MGoGuesswork: Harbaugh's Camp Jerseys
oh hey look who's ready for the Tennessee camp [via the incomparable Smoothitron]
Unless you're about six years late joining Twitter or doing something ridiculous like spending time outside enjoying the summer weather, you've noticed that there's a new component tucked into Jim Harbaugh's satellite camp tour in 2016. Harbaugh's a master of both connecting with people and efficiency, and what better way to break the ice as quickly as possible than wearing the jersey of a local legend.
Sometimes they have Michigan connections (he wore a Denard jersey in Jacksonville), sometimes they have Harbaugh connections (he wore an Andrew Luck shirsey in Indianapolis), and sometimes they just show off how insane Harbaugh's list of Known Friends and Trusted Agents is (he wore a Hank Aaron jersey in Atlanta and got Aaron to wear a Michigan hat). The Matlete asked Seth when our jersey prediction article was going to be published, and that got the wheels turning; once you picture the gloriousness of Jim Harbaugh photoshopped into a Charles Woodson jersey there's no turning back.
June 6: Baltimore, MD- St. Frances Academy, Patterson Park
Johnny Unitas? Joe Flacco? His own jersey?
I'm torn here. Unitas may not play that well with kids in high school, but it's a nice nod to the Colts' history and to one of the best quarterbacks ever. Then again, there's an elite QB (or is he?) playing for Harbaugh's brother; he also could go with a Willie Henry Ravens jersey if he's looking for a Michigan connection. The wild card would be throwing on his old Ravens jersey, a gentle reminder that he knows the NFL from just about every perspective.
June 7: Mobile, AL- University of South Alabama
Hank Aaron, part II
Harbaugh may have already worn an Aaron jersey in Atlanta, but I see no reason to shy away from wearing it again in Hammerin' Hank's hometown; there aren't many athletes more impressive to call your friend than baseball's home run king.
June 8: Cleveland Heights, OH- Raw Talent U Camp
Desmond Howard
Howard's been around the program a lot lately, and though there are a few good choices from Cleveland they haven't won a Heisman at Michigan, ipso facto it's Desmond.
[Does the Harbaugh-in-a-Woodson-jersey picture show up again AFTER THE JUMP? You had to ask?]
June 8: Paramus, NJ- Paramus Catholic
Derek Jeter
Like this, but the opposite [Fuller]
Pretty sure it's obligatory that Harbaugh wear his jersey when you're 30 minutes away from where one of the three most famous friends of the program played. One of my best friends, who lives a few minutes from Paramus, is a huge Mets fan and says he's surrounded by Yankees fans*, so this jersey should work on many levels.
*If I don't have a good read on the fandom of New Jersey residents then I'll be shocked because really who has ever been steered in the wrong direction when using a sample size of one.
June 9: Warren, OH- Harding High School
Mario Manningham
Sure, he's been out of the league for a couple of years, but the kid-from-Warren-who-goes-to-Michigan-then-makes-the-league-and-ends-up-being-coached-by-Harbaugh angle checks too many boxes to not use.
June 9: Fairfield, OH- Fairfield High School
Leon Hall
I'm drawing on Hall's Bengals connection here and assuming that it's a good idea to wear the jersey of a guy who went to your university and just finished his ninth season with the hometown NFL franchise.
June 10: Detroit, MI- Wayne State (Sound Mind Sound Body)
Al Kaline
We know Harbaugh has an affinity for baseball and a desire to be around people who perform or performed at the highest level, and few have ever been better in a Detroit uniform than Mr. Tiger; Harbaugh's also close enough to the organization to have guest coached for them during spring training. I'd be surprised if he passes up an opportunity to wear the Olde English D at a camp that's inside the city limits.
June 12: Norco, CA- Empire Showcase
Toby Gerhart
Norco is Gerhart's hometown, and this seems like a great time to remind everyone around that the three-star fullback who left home for Stanford in 2006 hasn't been around much because he's preparing for his seventh NFL season.
June 14: Addison, TX- Greenhill School
Mike Ditka or Derek Holland
Should Harbaugh wear the Cowboys jersey of his former coach or the Rangers jersey of more recently known friend and trusted agent Holland? I'd go with Ditka because I think it's a reminder of the sometimes-forgotten (at least around here) tutoring he received after leaving Michigan, but there has been a decidedly baseball bent to his jersey selections thus far.
June 14: Murfreesboro, TN- Oakland High School
ASK AND YE SHALL RECEIVE.
June 15: Pittsburg, KS- Pittsburg State
Alex Smith
Current Kansas City Chiefs quarterback and former 49ers signal-caller Alex Smith just happens to be one of Harbaugh's higher-profile reclamation projects. Smith appeared to be a bust until he came under Harbaugh's tutelage; the Alex Smith we see in Kansas City doesn't exist without Harbaugh coaching him in San Francisco. Harbaugh can wear this one confidently.
June 15: Kansas City, MO- Blue Springs South High School
Alex Smith
When you turn around a guy's career to the extent Harbaugh did you should probably wear the jersey to both camps.
June 17: Columbia, SC- Ridge View High School
Steve Spurrier visor
Another from the ranks of Harbaugh's contact list, nothing says Head Ball Coach like a visor.
June 17-18: Orem, UT- Pride camp
Sione Houma
Harbaugh turned a lightly regarded fullback into a smashmouth runner (who started getting carries over most of the running backs) and great blocker who made so much progress in one season that he's now a New Orleans Saint.
June 22: Las Vegas, NV- Chaparral High School
Colin Kaepernick Nevada jersey
I know that Reno and Vegas aren't that close but 1.) find someone else worth noting from Vegas' non-existent pro sports teams and 2.) make the case that they're more closely linked to Harbaugh than Kaepernick, who had his only good years in San Francisco when Harbaugh was the man in charge of laying on the grass and critiquing the QB-center exchange (i.e. coaching).
June 23: Antioch, CA- Antioch High School
Willie Mays? Charles Woodson Raiders jersey?
It's only an hour outside of San Francisco, and if there's one thing we've learned this offseason it's that Harbaugh's contacts are loaded with baseball hall of famers. Then again, it's about the same distance from Oakland, where a Heisman trophy winner from Michigan ballhawked his way through 11 seasons.
June 23: Sacramento, CA- Inderkum High School
Chris Webber
So, uh, this would be an interesting choice. Why not try to melt Twitter on an otherwise low-key Thursday? Actually, there are probably a lot of reasons not melt Twitter on a Thursday, but this was the only Sacramento connection that came to mind.
June 25: Los Angeles, CA- Hawkins High School
Richard Sherman
"Oh hey you guys remember that time a kid from Compton played both sides of the ball for me at Stanford and turned into one of the best corners in the NFL yeah good times good times."
Now it's your turn, dear readers. There were a few camps for which I couldn't find a Michigan/Harbaugh connection; head to the comments to share your ideas and/or remind me about a dude I completely overlooked.
June 8: Pearl, Miss.- Pearl High School
June 13: Houston- North Shore High School
June 24: Oceanside, CA- Seven60 Athletes Camp
June 26: Honolulu, HI- St. Louis School
June 28: American Samoa- Veterans Memorial Stadium
Yeah, I'm ex-Navy, but Oceanside is all Marine Corps. Would be good to shout out the military in a location where the military is front and center...
I wonder about the Smith and Sherman jerseys. Not sure he has such great relationships with the QB he benched mid season and the CB who played for a division rival and mentioned that Harbaugh didn't speak highly of him in pre-draft interviews.
Yeah, that crossed my mind as well. I just figured time heals all wounds (but mostly I didn't have a strong backup contender).
considering he wore an iverson jersey the other day, I think he could wear anything, anywhere. It won't necessarily be michigan related
Well he was at ODU and A.I. is the favorite son of Newport News,VA and tidewater area so it had relevance to the area.
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I believe he won't do the Ohio camp, just morning in MS, then flight to NJ.
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He could rock a Rudy Tomjanovich jersey.
In Mississippi he could rock a Walter Peyton or Chet Lemon jersey, both are from Mississippi, as is Brett Favre.
For Oceanside, he could wear a Junior Seau jersey since he was from there. Obviously no Michigan connection but given the kind of guy/player he was, I don't think it would be a terrible choice.
For Orem, I bet he either wears a Jim McMahon or Steve Young jersey since the town borders Provo and they both played at BYU. He played with McMahon in Chicago and has the Niners connection with Young.
on Wednesday, Harbaugh is going to be less than 10 miles from my house? I need to take the day off work.
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Given his many off the field issues, not sure an Alden Smith jersey would be a great idea.
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Steve McNair was from Mt. Olive which is about an hour away from Pearl, MS. I imagine he's an icon there. They were a few years apart but have the Ravens in common.
Jackie Robinson briefly played for Semi-Pro (football) Honolulu Bears in 1941. Does anyone think they have a throwback available?
The Honolulu camp has to be something Dog The Bounty Hunter-related. Given Harbaugh's affinity for Judge Judy, there's no way these two aren't friends. I say he sports a black leather vest, fake beard, and bear mace. Go with Christ, Brah....
Maize & Blue Obama #44 jersey
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Harbaugh wearing a Woodson jersey in Tennessee would be epic!
I'm totally expecting him to come out in a Brett jersey. He's a baseball version of Harbaugh: Tough, fierce competitor. And he strived for excellence. Derrick Thomas would be another likely choice, but I don't think he would risk wearing the jersey of such a beloved athlete who passed away tragically.
So this business of satellite camps is supposed to spread goodwill for Michigan, right? You want to make the locals happy to see you, happy to be around you? Want to make them like you? If those are any part of the goals, then he cannot wear Mr Woodson's jersey in Murfreesboro, TN.
Now don't get me wrong - I would eat that up and love every second of it! And if the goal is to piss off the locals right outta the starting gate, then yeah, wear Woodson. Michigan fans would LOVE it. The residents of Tennessee would not. The only thing that pisses them off more than Woodson's name is being reminded about Woodson.
Maybe Harbaugh laughs it off, and says to the campers 'work hard enough to make me take it off, show me good football and I'll take it off'? Maybe he uses it as a sportsmanship lesson? That would be an interesting take, maybe the campers go for that?
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Many people still consider the Home Run King to be Hank Aaron....since he didn't cheat and all.
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No worries, I'll go ahead and negbang you so you feel better about being lost!
In one way or another, one should not "join" twitter because who cares what that person has to say? Yes, I'm nobody of import as are 99.9 percent of everyone else thus twitter stock is in the crapper.
Harbaugh's posts are definitely worth reading but unless they shut down the read ability for non joiners, there is no reason to join.
June 8: Paramus, NJ- Paramus Catholic
Derek Jeter
You know Harbaugh loves good defense, so I simply don't see the connection.
With all those kids, coaches and programs being represented I wouldn't be suprised if Harbaugh flexes a little bit and has Jeter speak at the camp.
Maybe David Harris instead?
He could wear the Leon Hall jersey. Leon went to HS in the town that borders Oceanside.
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0-for-1. Ripken jersey today. The Iron Man.
Sadly, he changed from the Ripken jersey to Ray Lewis, best remembered for pleading guilty to obstruction of justice in the murders of two men. Truly a disappointing choice.
I'm too late to my mgoblog reading session of the day. These would have been my two guesses.
Ripken, because, duh.
And as for Lewis, if the older Harbro and Mattison didn't have faith in the guy, it wouldn't have happened. Is that not good enough for the rest of us?
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And, srsly, Harbaugh is a loyalty guy. He has to rock the gear of the school that gave him his first HC shot.
I predict an Obama jersey and also predict he will have Obama there shagging punts because Harbaugh
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I hope one of these camps he just comes out in his own jersey...Throws on a helmet and just starts throwing darts. Then he turns to the other QBs there and says "Try to match that kid."
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to adults to watch practice?
I'm trying to stay on the right side of the line between SuperFan and CreepyOldGuy
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