Three decades after playing in the game, Jim Harbaugh is being forever immortalized by the preeminent college football all-star game.
The Senior Bowl announced Thursday that Harbaugh is one of three players to be inducted into the game’s 29th Hall of Fame class. The Michigan head coach will be joined in this year’s class by former Ball State Cardinal and NFL safety Blaine Bishop and former Arizona Wildcat and NFL linebacker Lance Briggs.
Harbaugh played in the 1987 version of the Senior Bowl before he was a first-round draft pick of the Chicago Bears.
“Jim Harbaugh’s love of competition was displayed on the field during his playing days at Michigan and over his 15 years in the National Football League,” a statement from Senior Bowl executive director Phil Savage began. “Now, he is recognized as one of the best coaches in the game, having achieved noteworthy success at both the college and professional levels.”Congrats to @CoachJim4UM, who will be inducted into the @SeniorBowl HOF!#GoBlue pic.twitter.com/uMs15Ams0I
— Michigan Football (@UMichFootball) March 17, 2017
Both Harbaugh and Briggs spent extensive time with the Bears, the former for seven years (1987-93) and the latter for all 12 years of his NFL career (2003-14). Bishop spent nine of his 10 years in the NFL with the Houston Oilers/Tennessee Titans (1993-2001). He finished off his time in the NFL in 2002 with the Philadelphia Eagles.
That trio pushes the total number of Senior Bowl Hall of Famers to 114. To put that into perspective, more than 5,000 players have played in the senior Bowl since its inception nearly seven decades ago.