The second-ever Harbaugh Bowl, which we can call the “Harbowl” (as portmanteaus are all the rage these days), will soon be upon us.

Monday night, John Harbaugh and his Baltimore Ravens will be on the opposite side of the country, in Los Angeles, where they’ll take on his brother Jim’s Chargers. 

Harbowl I occurred in Super Bowl XLVII, in 2013 when John’s Ravens beat Jim’s San Francisco 49ers 34-31. Meetings between the Harbaugh siblings are rare, and that’s what makes them all the more special. 

Every football game is a fierce battle of wits, but it takes on an added and deeper level when it’s brother versus brother. Each man probably thinks that he knows all that there is to know about his opponent.

I also realize that the man on the opposite sideline almost certainly feels the same way about him.  It’s somewhat reminiscent of a famous Sir Winston Churchill quote about warfare:

“Always remember, however sure you are that you could easily win, that there would not be a war if the other man did not think he also had a chance.”

And the Harbaugh brothers are two intellectuals who have, in the past, provided articulate public commentary on social matters transcending football.

At 2017 Big Ten Media Day, Jim discussed his plans to take his Michigan Wolverines squad on an upcoming trip to Paris and Normandy. He did so by referencing the Rome trip he took his team on the previous year.

“I think it was A+ on all levels,” Jim Harbaugh told The Sports Bank, regarding his voyage to the eternal city. He added that the trip was also a chance to “make the world your classroom.”

I can’t think of a better endorsement for the concept of travel than that.

As for John, back in September 2020, when NFL players were protesting police brutality and racial injustice in the legal system during the playing of the national anthem, he gave a very passionate take.

“I don’t know how you can criticize someone for being passionate and for believing in something important to them,” Harbaugh said in an interview with NBC Sports.

“They want America to be great, and to realize the ideals we were founded on.”

John Harbaugh seemed to understand the Black Lives Matter movement better than most other NFL head coaches.

These are two thoughtful guys, so we should expect a very heady game.