Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images
Move over Cowboys?
The phrase “America’s Team” is a moniker earned through brilliance, excellence, and recognition. Jim Harbaugh thinks that should now belong to Michigan because his team is being punished for a cheating scandal.
Jim Harbaugh just said that Michigan should be “America’s team” because it has been through adversity and criticism and the naysayers.
— Nicole Auerbach (@NicoleAuerbach) November 13, 2023
Michigan’s persecution complex is now larger than the state itself. Everyone in the team’s orbit rallied around Harbaugh following his suspension by the Big Ten for what the conference called a scheme which “violated the Sportsmanship Policy because a University football staff member engaged in an organized, extensive, years-long in-person advance scouting scheme that was impermissible.”
Harbaugh’s defenders would have you believe the coach knew nothing about the actions that took place under him, while detractors say there’s no way he couldn’t have been aware. At this point we don’t know the truth either way.
That said, arriving at the ideal that a disgraced team should be “America’s Team” because of this is beyond incredible. It also really doesn’t understand how the Cowboys earned the nickname in the first place.
The genesis of “America’s Team” dates back to 1978, when John Facenda, the legendary voice of NFL Films said as part of their highlight package:
“They appear on television so often that their faces are as familiar to the public as presidents and movie stars. They are the Dallas Cowboys, ‘America’s Team’.”
When that video aired there were 28 teams in the league. Wide swathes of the country didn’t have a team to represent them, and national TV is how people came to know about the NFL on a broad scale. The Cowboys naturally bridged the gap between East and West, North and South — with an area of influence that expanded well beyond Texas.
Dallas became America’s Team largely by default, and certainly not because they faced “adversity” and “criticism” because of a scandal.
Meanwhile Jim’s body is also a temple.
Harbaugh sounds raspy but insists he’s not sick. “I’m the iron wall that viruses bash against and shatter,” he says. Says he’ll “do some more pushups and eat an apple.”
— Austin Meek (@byAustinMeek) November 13, 2023
And he’s prepping for the fight in a unique way.
Harbaugh clarifies that he’s not sure whether he’ll testify Friday. “That’s not my dance floor,” he says. “I’ve watched a lot of shows. I’ve watched Judge Judy a lot.”
— Austin Meek (@byAustinMeek) November 13, 2023
This whole situation is surreal.
