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Crazy-Intense Weirdo Mr. Harbaugh Goes to Washington

Jim Harbaugh went to Washington, D.C. and met with several justices of the Supreme Court. "Very memorable," he gushed.

It's taken about 34 years, but I think I've finally found my single favorite utterance. Michigan football head coach Jim Harbaugh went to Washington, D.C. in April and met with several Supreme Court Justices. The Wall Street Journal has a nice writeup of the events, but I just want to draw your attention to a few of his quotes including, as I mentioned, my single favorite thing ever said out loud.

Jim Harbaugh met with Chief Justice John Roberts in his office and had this to say:

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"He showed me the Declaration of Independence written in stone," he said. "Very memorable."

I guess it's not so much the finished product that I enjoy so much, but everything else that happened leading up to those two sentences. Jim Harbaugh went to the Supreme Court and had a private meeting with the Chief Justice of our highest court. That is a pretty rare and cool thing! Jim Harbaugh was shown some kind of stone-carved version of the Declaration of Independence of unknown provenance but with enough significance to the highest-ranking judge in our country that he keeps it in his office. Jim Harbaugh, processes all of this and muses aloud to the Wall Street Journal: "very memorable." It was something he will extremely remember. Jim Harbaugh is the Khaki Pants of storytelling.

Some more from The Quotable Jim Harbaugh:

  • On Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg: "Very dynamic speaker."
  • On Justice Clarence Thomas: "He's one of the most enthusiastic people I've ever met."
  • On speaking with Justice Clarence Thomas: "It was a great thrill."
  • On why he went to the Supreme Court: "Just interested in our government and people that sit in the Supreme Court."

We also learned that Jim Harbaugh played gin rummy with a more well-known jurist, Judge Judy. "He came in second. I'm up for a rematch," she said. Perhaps the most memorable moment for Harbaugh was not what he took away, but what he left. After meeting Justice Elena Kagan, Harbaugh gave her his "heavily underlined" copy of a book about Alabama's Bear Bryant. And he signed it for her, too.

There are a lot of questions prompted by this story—chief among them: does Jim Harbaugh always walk around with his heavily underlined copy of a Bear Bryant book, and if so, how willing really was he to just give it to a stranger? But the one thing we know for sure is that Harbaugh would be living on the street, or in an asylum if he wasn't coaching football.