Chargers News: How Life-Affirming Encounter With Childhood Hero Shaped Jim Harbaugh

Alex Kirschenbaum | Apr 10, 2024

Jim Harbaugh is NFL-bound after leading Michigan to three straight Big Ten titles and the 2023 national championship. / Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK

New Los Angeles Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh was such a devout fan of "The Rockford Files" that he even took to living in an RV for two months, a la that beloved detective adventure show's titular character played by James Garner, when he first touched down in LA, writesSam Farmer of The Los Angeles Times.

Harbaugh loved Rockford's dogged, no-nonsense approach to life and work, and is still emulating that so much to this day that he insisted offensive coordinator Greg Roman watch the show to get into that same headspace, lending him several DVDs.

Per Farmer, Harbaugh was playing a preseason contest as a young Chicago Bears quarterback against the then-Los Angeles Raiders in the LA Coliseum whe he was Raiders fan Garner hanging out on the Los Angeles sideline. Harbaugh approached him at halftime.

“Mr. Garner, my name is Jim Harbaugh,” Harbaugh recalls saying, according to Farmer.

“I know who you are, Jim,” Garner responded, per Harbaugh. “What can I do for you?”

“I’m a big fan of yours and I’m wondering, can we take a picture?”

Farmer writes that the duo became genuine pals, and would talk on the phone every once in a while. They even played golf together at Bel Air Country Club, one of Garner’s favorite hangouts.

“I fly out there, have breakfast with James Garner and he takes me out to play golf,” Harbaugh recalled. “He brought along [longtime Rams executive] Don Klosterman who couldn’t walk very well and had some problems with his hips. Well, Klosterman gets a hole-in-one. It’s the only hole-in-one I’ve ever seen in person. He could barely stand up. He was playing some really good golf with bad hips.

“That’s a top five in my life, playing golf with James Garner and Don Klosterman.”

Harbaugh really responded to the reality that Rockford was an imperfect guy, trying to do his best to navigate an imperfect world, writes Farmer.

“He’s the hero who it doesn’t always go perfect for,” Harbaugh said. “It’s more like real life. He doesn’t get paid in the end, or he takes a bullet in the hip. But he’s really loyal, a force for good. More like a real person.

“One of Rockford’s best lines is when he’s asked if there’s anything he won’t do for money. ‘I won’t kill for it, and I won’t marry for it. Other than that, I’m open to just about anything.’ That’s very human to me.”