Edited by Rachel Heung
Jim Harbaugh (also known as James Joseph Harbaugh) is an American football coach and former quarterback. He is currently 57 years old and is the head football coach of the Michigan Wolverines. From 1983 to 1986, he was a player of the Michigan football team, and from 1987 to 2000 and was also a member of the National Football League (NFL). During his six years as a coach in the NFL, his teams went 59-36-1 in total wins and losses. From 2011 to 2014, he was the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers, leading the team to a 44-19-1 record. Harbaugh played in 177 league games with 140 starts during his NFL career. He completed 2,305 of 3,918 passes for 26,288 yards with 129 touchdowns. Harbaugh earned the nickname "Captain Comeback" for his ability to win games in the fourth quarter. Harbaugh is also ranked second in the Bears' record book with 1023 completions, and third in yards with 11,567. He was inducted into the Indianapolis Colts Ring of Honor in 2005 as one of the team's most successful players.
Due to the pandemic, the NFL lost almost $4 billion in revenue. This is because of the people’s health and safety concerns of players and the restrictions in order to ensure that all the players are healthy and safe. In order for the NFL to contain the spread of the virus, they have to postpone and temporarily stop matches in order to follow the safety regulations to keep all players safe.
Last year, the Michigan Athletic Director laid off 21 individuals in the athletic department because of budget cuts caused by the COVID-19 outbreak. Most staff were subjected to comprehensive salary freezes and reductions ranging from 5% to 10%. Manuel estimated a $62.9 million loss for the fiscal year 2021. Despite the financial difficulties, Manuel was sure that he would not cut any sports.
Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh said on Monday night's "Inside Michigan Football" radio show that he plans to donate all of his bonus money for this season to athletic department staff who were affected financially due to the COVID-19 outbreak. By winning the Big Ten East title outright on Saturday, Harbaugh earned a $500,000 bonus. If Michigan wins the Big Ten Championship Game against Iowa on Saturday, Harbaugh will receive a $1 million bonus, and if the Wolverines win the national title, he could receive nearly $3.5 million in total incentives.
This is a reminder that we should always try our best to help one another, especially during these stressful periods of time being in a pandemic. Doing acts of kindness does not necessarily mean giving people money, we could do small gestures such as providing words of encouragement and moral support may already be more than enough to make someone’s day.
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