Jim Harbaugh, coach of the Super Bowl-bound San Francisco 49ers, is known as having a tough, no-nonsense persona with the media and with his team. But that gruff exterior may just be hiding an activist element to his personality that few who know him as a coach and player may know. While a rookie quarterback for the Chicago Bears, Harbaugh was instrumental in the team granting access to the team’s locker room to female reporters.
Prior to a particular incident, female reporters would have to wait outside the locker room hoping to get an interview with players. Only during massive media events could they sneak in and go unnoticed. It was in 1987 that Harbaugh made some history that is little-known.
Reporter Cheryl Raye-Stout was covering the team back then, having started in 1985, the year the Bears won the Super Bowl. But in 1986, when the media presence was significantly less, she could no longer enter freely. But then Harbaugh came along. Notes Raye-Stout in a block post recently:
"The media person went into the locker room and brought the rookie out for me. Jim looked at me and then said to the media person, ‘Why can’t she go in the locker room like she does after games?’ He wasn't kidding. Jim had the firm look he shows now as San Francisco's coach. There was no answer that would be satisfactory to Harbaugh. There was more to the conversation, but for me, his first words were the most relevant. Until that point, no one else had even challenged or really cared about my situation. Jim and I talked, and we walked into the locker room. There were no angry voices, there were no insults. (Now there was no red carpet or rose petals thrown either.) At times there were some other incidents, but this was a huge change at Halas Hall."
Raye-Stout added later, "Next Sunday I will take off my reporter’s hat and become a fan and root for the Niners. All female sports reporters should too."
Prior to a particular incident, female reporters would have to wait outside the locker room hoping to get an interview with players. Only during massive media events could they sneak in and go unnoticed. It was in 1987 that Harbaugh made some history that is little-known.
Reporter Cheryl Raye-Stout was covering the team back then, having started in 1985, the year the Bears won the Super Bowl. But in 1986, when the media presence was significantly less, she could no longer enter freely. But then Harbaugh came along. Notes Raye-Stout in a block post recently:
"The media person went into the locker room and brought the rookie out for me. Jim looked at me and then said to the media person, ‘Why can’t she go in the locker room like she does after games?’ He wasn't kidding. Jim had the firm look he shows now as San Francisco's coach. There was no answer that would be satisfactory to Harbaugh. There was more to the conversation, but for me, his first words were the most relevant. Until that point, no one else had even challenged or really cared about my situation. Jim and I talked, and we walked into the locker room. There were no angry voices, there were no insults. (Now there was no red carpet or rose petals thrown either.) At times there were some other incidents, but this was a huge change at Halas Hall."
Raye-Stout added later, "Next Sunday I will take off my reporter’s hat and become a fan and root for the Niners. All female sports reporters should too."