Before Jim and John Harbaugh became Ohio’s sports enemies, they were Ohio boys who loved the Cleveland Indians

CLEVELAND, Ohio - Two of Ohio’s greatest sports enemies beam at the camera while standing on one of the state’s hallowed athletic grounds.

Jim and John Harbaugh can’t be older than 12 years old in the photo, and there couldn’t have been more than 3,000 people at Cleveland Municipal Stadium when it was taken.

But one 1970s summer day, during their latest family vacation to Cleveland, the Harbaugh boys snuck onto the field during the seventh inning of a baseball game and posed for a picture with then-Indians first baseman Tommy McCraw.

This weekend, John will lead the Baltimore Ravens into FirstEnergy Stadium hoping to shear the last shred of the Browns’ playoff hopes.

Four weeks back, Jim’s Wolverines caused an uproar in Columbus by planting a Michigan flag in the turf at Ohio Stadium.

But back in the ‘70s, the Harbaughs were Ohio boys. Their father, Jack, still doesn’t know how they made it to field level or convinced McCraw to pose for a picture. But he keeps the Polaroid cut-out, which he considers one of the family’s most treasured artifacts, to prove they did. And to prove that, as Jack told cleveland.com this week:

“We go a long way back with Ohio.”

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Jack’s journey began in Crestline, about 90 miles south of Cleveland and 60 north of Columbus. He chose no horse in the Ohio State vs. Michigan rivalry – the Catholic-school kid preferred Notre Dame – but he loved the Browns and Indians.

At 83, Jack can still rattle off the names: Lou Boudreau, Kenny Keltner, Jim Hegan, Dale Mitchell of the Indians. Otto Graham, Frank “Gunner” Gatski, Dante Lavelli, Mac Speedie, “and of course, Paul Brown,” Jack said.

His family was glued to the TV set every Sunday to watch “the greatest show in football.” And he still feels pride thinking about 1948, the year “we” won the World Series.

“I say ‘we’ because I consider myself a great Cleveland Indian fan,” Jack said.

With the arrival of FanDuel in Ohio, Ohio bettors can start betting on Jan. 1. Other sportsbooks entering the state include Barstool Sportsbook, Caesars and DraftKings.

Jack met his great Cleveland love about 10 years later, when he and Jackie Cipiti were both students at Bowling Green. Jackie graduated from Shaw High School and first encountered Jack while cheerleading at BG. Jack played football and baseball, and though he spent three years gathering the courage to ask Jackie out in 1959, they were married two years later on Nov. 25, 1961 – the same day Ohio State beat Michigan 50-20 in Ann Arbor.

The next day, Jack and Jackie watched the Browns lose 37-21 to the Giants at home. They consider that game their honeymoon.

John arrived one year later, and Jim came 14 months after John.

Meanwhile, Jack cut his coaching teeth through the Ohio coaching ranks. He started as the lone coach at Canton McKinley Junior High – no assistants. And the family would move to Perrysburg; Eaton; Xenia; Morehead, Kentucky; and Bowling Green before leaving the state for good in 1970.

They never stopped visiting Jackie’s family in Cleveland, though, and Jack loved taking the kids to baseball games. Amid a 39-year playoff drought, the Cleveland baseball crowds were usually sparse. So Jack would challenge his kids to shag as many fly balls as they could.

“If you’re anything close to an athlete,” he remembers saying, “you will come out of this stadium today with three baseballs. All you have to do on foul balls is be able to run. If you don’t get three or four balls, you’re not near the athlete that I think you are.”

Almost 50 years later, Jack holds those memories dearest. He remembers no box scores from those baseball games or the high school games he and the kids attended on recruiting trips. But he cherishes the car rides to and fro – radio off – during which he picked his children’s brains.

He wishes he knew them as adults before he started coaching. Jim and John relate to players better than Jack ever did, in his own estimation. He considers his era’s coaching style too “authoritarian” and loves the way his sons include assistants and players in their decisions.

Perhaps that’s why they’ve been stuck in their home state’s craw in recent years. John is 23-4 against Cleveland during his career, including 4-1 against Browns coach Kevin Stefanski. Jim started off 0-5 against Ohio State but now has won two straight over the Buckeyes, and consecutive Big Ten Championships.

Jack cheers their success from Ann Arbor and remains a proud Ohioan. The state is where he built his life, and he’ll always hold it “near and dear” to his heart.

During weeks like this, however, Otto Graham and Paul Brown will have to forgive him. Family first.

“It’s difficult,” Jack said. “You never want the Browns to climb over you in the conference standings, and you certainly don’t want to lose to them on Saturday. If It doesn’t involve those two things, I’m a Cleveland Brown fan.”

If you or a loved one has questions and needs to talk to a professional about gambling, call the Ohio Problem Gambling Helpline at 1-800-589-9966 or the National Council on Program Gambling Helpline (NCPG) at 1-800-522-4700.