Dogged Determination : He Has Suffered Derision and Rejection, but Colt Quarterback Jim Harbaugh Somehow Survives and Enjoys the Dreamiest of Seasons

He was a certified stiff, berated by Mike Ditka on national television for changing a play and losing a game, booed by Chicago Bear fans during pregame warmups before the season opener, cut after the first year of what was supposed to be a five-year, $13-million contract--the same week in which his dog died and his girlfriend dumped him.

His comment at that time: “I felt like I was living a country music song.”

Jim Harbaugh, resurrected Indianapolis quarterback, smiles proudly, “Yeah, pretty good line, huh? Came right off the top of my head and gets used all the time. But the dog didn’t die, just got sick.”

Dog dead or alive, the woe-is-me legend grows. Harbaugh doesn’t run for first downs, he “stumbles” for first downs, says Harbaugh. There are great quarterbacks like John Elway, Troy Aikman and Dan Marino, and then there’s “me, the ugly duckling,” says Harbaugh.

“I don’t really feel I do any one thing better than anyone who is considered one of the great quarterbacks,” he says. “I’m more of a grinder.”

Pittsburgh Coach Bill Cowher compares Harbaugh favorably to Green Bay Packer quarterback Brett Favre in a press conference, and shucks, Harbaugh’s all embarrassed.

“I don’t see the comparison,” he says. “Brett Favre’s my favorite quarterback right now, but I don’t think I’m in the same league as Brett Favre.”

Harbaugh being Harbaugh: “I went downtown earlier this season to get my picture taken for the Indianapolis Monthly magazine and I stopped in this building to see what floor it was on,” he says, already grinning in anticipation of the punch line. “This security guard comes up and says, ‘Oh sure, you’re here to lay carpet.’ ”

Harbaugh being Harbaugh: “Yeah, true story,” he says. “We’re losing in Chicago, so I said I wouldn’t take my paycheck until we won again. You’ll love this. We beat Pittsburgh the next game, but because of all the hullabaloo made over the paycheck, I ended up donating it to charity. It was $75,000.”

Harbaugh being Harbaugh: “I wanted to be like Joe Montana. My first couple of years in the league I would take out tapes and try to copy his drop back and his throwing motion. . . . I’d be thinking I was starting to look like him and then I would look at film and it was me again.”

Harbaugh being Harbaugh: “I thought the only thing I would be picking up at this time of the year was splinters.”

To hear Harbaugh tell the stories, the Colts have this clumsy Joe Montana wannabe at quarterback, a no-name slug willing to play for nothing, who is just lucky to have a job.

“I would have thought the chances of me getting cut were better than me going to the Pro Bowl and going to the AFC championship game this season,” he says.

But no, the headline reads: “Nice Guy Finishes First.”

“It is a good story,” says Harbaugh, bringing his teammates into it. “We’ve had all these guys step up and have career years. Including me. Old rejected me. A dream season.”

Harbaugh, who wears No. 4 in honor of his idol, former Boston Bruin defenseman Bobby Orr, was on his way out of the league when the season began. The Colts traded two draft choices, including a first-round selection, to Tampa for Craig Erickson, and Erickson was going to be Indianapolis’ starting quarterback.

But Erickson faltered in his Colt debut and lost, and then again in his second start before Harbaugh brought Indianapolis back from a 21-point deficit, only to lose in overtime. Colt Coach Ted Marchibroda handed the ball to Harbaugh in Game 3 against Buffalo, and said, “Let ‘er rip, Jim,” and now “Let ‘er rip,” has become this town’s T-shirt battle cry.

The Colts lost to Buffalo in Harbaugh’s first start, 20-14, but came back to knock off, in succession, the undefeated Rams at the time, the undefeated Dolphins at the time and the Super Bowl champion 49ers. Against Miami, Harbaugh completed 20 of his final 24 passes for 278 yards to overcome a 24-3 deficit, driving the Colts to a 27-24 victory.

“He’s been jokingly labeled ‘the Comeback Kid’--for more reasons than one--but I think it’s fitting,” center Kirk Lowdermilk said. “When he’s in there, you never know what’s going to happen.”

To come back, you must first be down. And Harbaugh has been down, way down. It began with the infamous audible against Minnesota on Oct. 4, 1992. Harbaugh changed the play at the line of scrimmage--a play called by Bear Coach Mike Ditka--then threw an interception that ignited a winning Viking rally and a sideline tantrum by Ditka.

“I don’t remember what he was saying but I know his face was real red,” says Harbaugh. “But I deserved it.”

Ditka tells it different.

“I was wrong,” he says. “On the previous play, Jim got hit and was in a daze. I should have seen that. I was upset, but that shows you how silly I could be in those days.

“I’m telling you, this is one outstanding young man. He’s one of those guys you root for in life. When he was in Chicago, he begged me to put him on the punt-coverage team, and I did until the owner and everybody went nuts.”

Although the image of Ditka blasting Harbaugh on the sidelines is a lasting one for most football fans, it is not what Harbaugh remembers most about his days in Chicago.

“The first four years with Ditka were fun and I give him tremendous credit for making me into the player and person I am now,” Harbaugh says. “My last year [under Dave Wannstedt] was not much fun. That was the lowest I have ever been, listening to the boos as I came on the field for the very first time in 1993.”

The Bears collapsed after that 1992 loss to Minnesota, and finished 5-11. Ditka left Chicago, leaving Harbaugh behind to face the restive fans. Harbaugh was sacked 47 times in 1993 and the Bear offense went nowhere, although Harbaugh completed 62% of his passes.

Erik Kramer was hired, and Harbaugh dismissed.

Bill Tobin, Indianapolis’ director of football operations and the man who had drafted Harbaugh while working with the Bears, passed on drafting quarterback Trent Dilfer, took linebacker Trev Alberts and signed Harbaugh to be the team’s quarterback.

“Check it out,” Tobin says, holding up a Chicago Bears’ media guide with certain pages highlighted. “Harbaugh still has 16 records. His name is right there with Sid Luckman and Jim McMahon.”

Harbaugh went 3-5 in his first eight starts for the Colts, lost his job to Don Majkowski, came on to start one game against Miami and win, then finished 1994 in relief. The Colts then went after Erickson, and who could have predicted the wild ride that has ensued?

“That’s the question I get asked in every interview,” says Harbaugh, who was the NFL’s top-ranking quarterback this season. “Even my friends ask, and that really hurts when your friends ask, ‘What’s the difference with you?’

“Just working, you know? ‘No, no,’ they’ll say, ‘What’s the difference with you?’ You mean, why don’t I [stink] anymore? ‘Yeah.’

“I don’t have the answers,” Harbaugh says. “This whole season has just been fun. I don’t know what makes people happy, but when I’m standing there listening to the national anthem, man, I’m playing in the NFL. I got a uniform on. That’s it.”

He Has Suffered Derision and Rejection,

but Colt Quarterback Jim Harbaugh

Somehow Survives and Enjoys

the Dreamiest of Seasons