Family affair? Harbaughs embrace Super Bowl possibility
For the Harbaugh family, Saturday will be a day that gets remembered for a long, long time. Not just because the NFL teams John and Jim coach won divisional round playoff games, either.
Their brother-in-law, Indiana men's basketball coach, Tom Crean, won his game earlier in the morning too. The big winners, Jack and Jackie Harbaugh, watched all three from their basement in Wisconsin.
"They had one of those days where Indiana beat Minnesota in a big basketball game. And then they watched (Baltimore coach) John's game, an exciting, winning, thrilling game for the Ravens," Jim Harbaugh said of his parents. "And then our game. So, my parents are in their 70s. That's a lot of excitement. That's a lot of action.
"That's like going back-to-back-to-back like three '24' episodes in a row. It's not easy."
For the second straight season, the Brothers Harbaugh have their teams a game away from the Super Bowl and both teams will have to win on the road to get there -- San Francisco in Atlanta, Baltimore at New England. Last year, on Thanksgiving, they became the first brothers to square off in the NFL as head coaches.
"I don't know what it says," Jim Harbaugh said. "I'm proud of my brother and what he's accomplished and proud of our guys for being in the position they're in and ready to forge ahead."
Atlanta, the NFC's No. 1 seed, finished the regular season 13-3, but compiled it while playing the league's easiest schedule. Until its divisional-round win against Seattle on Sunday, the Falcons hadn't played a playoff team since Oct. 7. They were 7-1 at home during the regular season with their lone loss to Carolina (30-20) in Week 14.
Having gone up against Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Russell Wilson, Eli Manning, Matthew Stafford and most recently Aaron Rodgers, for the second time, the 49ers should be prepared what is sure to present a challenge in Atlanta quarterback Matt Ryan.
"Just about everything (impresses)," Harbaugh said. "He's a smart heady quarterback, one of the top in the league."
