Larry Brown Sports

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick is capable of being one of the most dangerous players in the NFL because of his ability to make plays with his arm and legs. Kaepernick has tremendous speed for his size, which causes defenses to underestimate him and just plain struggle to keep up. The Green Bay Packers could tell you how fast Kaepernick is, as he torched them for 181 yards and two touchdowns in the Divisional Round of the playoffs.

Kaepernick is also an animal in the weight room, and believe it or not that is a concern for Niners coach Jim Harbaugh.

“If you’re just talking about weightlifting and upper-body strength, yes, I think there is that fear,” Harbaugh told Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com. “It’s something we’ve talked about. ‘I don’t want you getting too jacked-up, Colin.’ I want some speed, quickness.”

Remember, this is the same Kaepernick who supposedly gave Randy Moss the first dislocated finger of his career because of how much zip he puts on the ball. Then during Super Bowl week, teammate Michael Crabtree sarcastically commented that he would rather catch warmup passes from someone else for that reason.

It may sound strange, but Harbaugh is not the first person we have heard express concern over a quarterback beefing up too much. One prominent former coach once said the same thing about Tim Tebow, so it’s not a novel idea. That being said, I’m sure every coach in the NFL would love to have Harbaugh’s problem. Worrying about a quarterback working out too much is a good concern to have.

H/T Pro Football Talk

We hear time and time again how football is simply a business. Trading players certainly falls under that umbrella, but what if the head coaches of the two teams making the trade are brothers? Does that complicate matters or make life easier? Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh and San Francisco 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh can shed some light on that.

Many were shocked when the Ravens traded playoff hero Anquan Boldin to the Niners a little over a week ago. The idea came together quickly, which sounds like it was the result of the Harbaugh brothers calling each other directly.

“It was me to my brother,” John said. “I called him up and just said, ‘Would you be interested?’ He said, ‘Heck yeah, let me go talk to (Niners GM) Trent (Baalke).’ This was about 3:30 before the 4 o’clock deadline. He ran down to Trent and they talked, and then Trent got on the phone with Ozzie and they had it worked out.”

From Jim’s standpoint, the deal may have even sounded too easy. If it seems too good to be true it probably is, which is why Jim was skeptical of even his own brother.

“I’m sure he was probably a little suspicious,” John said jokingly. “But Anquan is a great player, there’s just no denying it. From a pure value standpoint, I think they feel like they got a great deal. I know they got a great player, they got a great leader, they got a guy that will be a perfect fit in their offense in a lot of ways, and they realized that right away.”

Considering the Ravens were only asking for a sixth-round pick in return for a guy who was a beast in the playoffs, you can understand why Jim thought there might be a catch. Personally, I’m just happy the Harbaugh brothers are finally speaking again.

If the Harbaugh brothers weren’t such fierce competitors, they would not have been coaching against one another last Sunday. It has been nearly five full days since the Baltimore Ravens defeated the San Francisco 49ers in the Super Bowl, but fierce competitors hate losing. That would explain why Jim Harbaugh has still yet to speak to John Harbaugh.

During an appearance on “The Late Show with David Letterman” on Thursday night, John Harbaugh was asked if he had been in contact with his brother since beating him last Sunday.

“I have not,” Harbaugh said with a smile. “We have not had a conversation since. We will. Soon.”

He’s not joking. Anyone who has watched Jim Harbaugh coach should not be surprised. People who throw fits like this don’t enjoy losing, and they probably have no interest in hearing “you’ll get ‘em next time” from their older brother.

“When will you talk to your brother?” Letterman asked later in the interview.

“I’m hoping sometime, you know, soon,” Harbaugh replied. “We actually have meetings coming up, we have a combine in two weeks. Anybody who has a brother knows that you don’t console your brother. It doesn’t work.”

If John avoids a punch in the face from Jim the first time they see each other face-to-face, he’ll probably consider it a another victory.

With the San Francisco 49ers and the Baltimore Ravens set to square off in Super Bowl XLVII, much of the buzz surrounding the game has centered around the brothers Harbaugh competing against each other for the Vince Lombardi trophy. John and Jim Harbaugh both had great teams heading into the season, so it is not shocking that they are the only two coaches left standing.

A man from Indiana named Roy Fox anticipated a potential Niners-Ravens matchp, so he decided to try to make some money off of it. Last February, Fox says he paid more than $1,000 to file trademarks for the phrases “Harbowl” and “Harbaugh Bowl.” However, his plan never came to fruition because of pressure from the NFL.

“Right before the conference championship games last year, I thought to myself, ‘Can you imagine if these guys played each other?’” Fox told ESPN.com. “If Pat Riley would go through the trouble of trademarking three-peat, why shouldn’t I try this?”

In August, the NFL sent a letter to Fox expressing concerns that his recent trademarks could be confused with the league’s trademark of Super Bowl. NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy explained the purpose behind that letter.

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San Francisco 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh threw a fit on the sidelines after a call he challenged was upheld in favor of Atlanta. Harbaugh thought a reception by Harry Douglas late in the fourth quarter was incomplete, so he challenged the ruling on the field. The referees determined there was not enough evidence to overturn the original call, so the catch stood, giving Atlanta a first down late in the game. Luckily for Harbaugh, San Francisco’s defense managed to stall Atlanta’s drive and got a turnover on downs. They went on to win it 28-24 to advance to the Super Bowl.

GIF via World of Isaac

The fact that John and Jim Harbaugh each have their teams in the conference championship for a second straight season is not a coincidence. The Harbaugh brothers are tremendous NFL coaches and masters of motivation, which is why we would never question any of Jim Harbaugh’s motivational tactics — no matter how strange they may seem.

According to the LA Times, Harbaugh had someone hang photos of each San Francisco 49ers player from their high school days above their locker at Candlestick park last weekend. As you know, the Niners went on to defeat the Green Bay Packers. We’ll never know if the photos of their teenage selves motivated the team, but it certainly created a buzz before the big game.

Harbaugh declined to elaborate on the unusual ritual, but safety Donte Whitner tried to shed some light on it.

“Coach really wants us to tap into what we wanted to be at that time,” Whitner explained. “When you look at this picture, it’s like, ‘At this moment, what did I want to be?’ We all look at this and we understand what we wanted to be, and where we are now.”

The players have had a lot of fun with the photos, needling one another for the way people looked in high school and comparing where they were ranked at their respective positions back in the day. Some, like Randy Moss, were ranked No. 1 in every possible category while others, like defensive tackle Ray McDonald, were unranked nationally and in his own homestate of Florida.

“Reminds me of how bad I [stunk] when I was in high school,” McDonald said.

Perhaps Harbaugh was going for a “look how far I’ve come” moment for his players. Maybe he was simply trying to lighten the mood before the most important game of the season. This is the same Harbaugh who once toyed with the media by talking about baseball during his scheduled press conference, so don’t expect him to ever explain himself. When you’ve coached your way to the NFC Championship game in your first two season as the coach of a team, there are generally no explanations needed.

H/T Deadspin

Colin Kaepernick’s record-setting game against the Green Bay Packers on Saturday night should end all questions about Jim Harbaugh’s decision to make a midseason quarterback change for the 49ers.

The second-year quarterback from Nevada started off shaky in his first career playoff game by throwing a pick six to Packers cornerback Sam Shields on the team’s first possession, but he went nuts after that. Kaepernick broke two touchdown runs — one for 20 yards and the other for 56 — while setting an NFL quarterback record with 181 rushing yards in a game.

Kaepernick also threw the ball well. He completed 17 of 31 passes for 263 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception. Kaepernick used his rifle arm to fire passes when they needed to get there quickly, and he also showed off his touch like when he threw a perfect pass up the seam to Vernon Davis late in the game.

He is such a dynamic playmaker it’s clear he’s in a different class from Alex Smith.

Kaepernick became the 49ers’ starting quarterback after replacing Smith during a Week 10 tie against the St. Louis Rams. Smith was concussed during that game and missed the team’s next contest — a Monday night win over the Chicago Bears. It was obvious after that point that Kaepernick made the 49ers’ offense more dangerous than Smith did. Even Kaepernick’s teammates seemed to confirm that.

Though Kaepernick was contained in his third start of the season — a 16-13 loss to the Rams — his four-touchdown game two weeks later at New England proved how dangerous he is.

It’s quite fitting that the man whose playoff record Kaepernick broke for most rushing yards by a quarterback in a playoff game is Michael Vick; Kaepernick is like Vick but without the turnovers.

After watching Kaepernick beat the Bears, I had no doubt that Harbaugh made the right choice by switching. Smith had been playing well enough to get the Niners to the NFC Championship Game, but Kaepernick has the ability to lead them to a Super Bowl win. There is a big difference between the two. And what does it say about Harbaugh’s coaching ability that people actually thought he was nuts for benching a guy most of us used to call a bust?