John Harbaugh, head coach of the Super Bowl XLVII champion Baltimore Ravens, appeared on "Late Show with David Letterman" on Thursday, Feb. 7, 2013. Harbaugh talked about facing his brother, San Francisco 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh, in Sunday’s big game and whether he’s spoken to him since.
John Harbaugh, head coach of the Baltimore Ravens, faced off against his brother Jim Haubaugh,head coach of the San Francisco 49ers for Super Bowl XLVII at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on Feb. 3, 2013 in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Baltimore Ravens defeated the San Francisco 49ers 34-31.
The Harbaughs became the first pair of brothers to serve as head coaches in the NFL back in 2011 and made more headlines this year when they became the first brothers in NFL history to face each other in a Super Bowl, which quickly became dubbed the “Harbaugh Bowl.”
Super Bowl XLVII aired on CBS Television Network on Sunday, Feb. 3, 2013. Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco was a guest on Letterman's show on Monday night. Ravens QB Joe Flacco appears on Late Show with David Letterman
Letterman's monologue included jokes about the NFL and the embarrassment of the lights going off at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans. Beyonce performs at Super Bowl halftime and lights go off
Following are excerpts from the interview on "Late Show with David Letterman," provided by CBS Television Network.
Letterman: “What did you say to your brother after the game and what did he say to you?”
Harbaugh: “I told him I loved him, you know, good game, and he said congratulations, you know, I’m proud of you.”
Letterman: “Have you spoken to him since?”
Harbaugh: “I have not. We have not had a conversation since. We will – soon.” (audience and Letterman laughs)
Letterman: “I mean, I guess unless you’re in that position, you don’t really know what it is, but what was it? It’s your brother – are you able to dismiss that? Is it meaningless once the game starts?”
Harbaugh: “Yeah, it kind of is. I mean, you look across the field and you see him and you kind of see what he’s doing over there and you kind of say, ‘Hey.’ No, at the time, I didn’t really have a problem looking at him on the other sideline. That seemed normal to me. When I looked out there and saw him in the other huddle, in their huddle, when they were getting ready to run a play, that seemed like Jim. That wasn’t surprising.”
Letterman asked Harbaugh if there was favoritism in the family regarding himself and Jim. “Did you ever get a sense growing up that there was favoritism from one to the other? Were you the favorite? Was Jim the favorite?”
Harbaugh: “I felt like Jim was the favorite pretty much our whole – I did, I did. Jim felt like he was the favorite, but the truth, Joanie, our sister, she was truly the favorite. She was the little baby girl.”
Letterman: “Joanie…now where does she coach?” (audience and Harbaugh laugh)
Letterman later asked if Harbaugh will speak to his brother Jim anytime soon.
Letterman: “When will you talk to you brother?”
Harbaugh: “I’m hoping, you know, sometime soon. We actually, we have meetings coming up, we have a combine in two weeks.”
Letterman: “Is there animosity?”
Harbaugh: “No, no. You know what there is?”
Letterman: “Is he feeling bad? Do you need to reach out to him?”
Harbaugh: “He’s playing golf today. He’s playing golf, yeah. No, there’s no consolation. There’s no way that you console your brother. Anybody that has a brother knows that. You don’t console your brother. It doesn’t work.”
Letterman: “Not having a brother, I have two sisters and it’s unlikely that any of us would have coached a Super Bowl game, so I don’t know what this is. I don’t know what this is. Do you wake up thinking, ‘Oh, thank God I beat him,’ or, ‘Oh, I won, but, oh, too bad.’ I just don’t know what that is.”
Harbaugh: “You know, you do wake up thinking, ‘Thank God I beat him.’ You do, yes. It would have been a long life, you know?” (audience laughs)
Harbaugh’s entire interview can be seen on the LATE SHOW tonight (11:35 p.m.-12:37 a.m., ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.
Also visiting the LATE SHOW tonight are Academy Award-winning actress Sally Field, who is nominated for an Oscar this year for her role in the film “Lincoln,” and a performance by Elvis Presley tribute artist Shawn Klush.
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