John Madden weighs in on Harbaugh brothers Super Bowl
Former Raiders coach and NFL commentator John Madden knows a thing or two about Super Bowls: He's coached in or announced 12 of them. In 1976, Madden led the Raiders to a 32-14 win over the Vikings in Super Bowl XI.
Super Bowl XI was a big win for Madden, but he wasn't coaching against his brother like Jim and John Harbaugh will be in Super Bowl XLVII when the 49ers meet the Ravens. Madden went on the radio in San Francisco on Tuesday to give his thoughts on the "Bro Bowl" and it doesn't sound like he thinks it's going to be pretty.
"People think this is a nice, warm, fuzzy story; two brothers, mother and father watching their two sons [coach] in the Super Bowl, but the biggest gap in sports is between winning and losing the Super Bowl and the part that no one thinks about is that one of them is going to lose," Madden said, according to KCBS-AM in San Francisco.
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"This isn't your Thanksgiving family touch football game in the backyard," Madden said. "This is for [the Super Bowl] and the loss is a deep, deep scar. It's going to be a lot more difficult than it is nice."
Besides the fact that John and Jim have the same last name, Madden also pointed out that the brothers have something else in common -- they both made bold coaching decisions in the middle of the season.
Jim decided to stick with Colin Kaepernick at quarterback over Alex Smith, and John fired offensive coordinator Cam Cameron in December and replaced him with former Colts coach Jim Caldwell.
"They both made some gutsy moves and they were willing to live with it and back it up," Madden said. "Had either one of those not been successful, I'd guarantee you, and you know this as well as I do, it would have backfired on them. What could have been a mutiny becomes the move of a genius."
The two geniuses will meet on Feb. 3 in Super Bowl XLVII in the ultimate game of family bragging rights.
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