On Saturday afternoon, as part of the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2024, former San Francisco 49ers linebacker Patrick Willis will receive his gold jacket and his bronze bust, and will officially be inducted into the most prestigious football fraternity in the world. Fans from all across the country make the trip each year to see some of the game's greatest players receive the ultimate honor, and for Willis, his contingent will include a large number of former 49ers coaches and players who couldn't miss the opportunity to see one of the most dominant players in Niners history take his place among football's very best.
The headline of this piece may suggest that new Los Angeles Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh will be going “the extra mile” to be in Canton, Ohio on Saturday afternoon for Patrick Willis' Pro Football Hall of Fame induction, but in reality, Harbaugh and a handful of Chargers coaches will be making a 2,400 mile trip from El Segundo in order to see their former teammate enshrined. This trek includes an early morning flight on Saturday to make it to the ceremony on time, and then a flight back to California on Saturday night as to not miss Sunday morning practice. Despite the hectic travel schedule that comes with it, this was a moment that Jim Harbaugh knew he couldn't miss.
“I watched Patrick’s reaction and said, ‘By golly, we’re going. So let’s get some flights,’’’ Harbaugh told reporters after a recent practice, per Daniel Brown of The Athletic. “I think we’ll be able to make it to Canton.”
The group that will be heading to Canton includes Patrick Willis' former 49ers teammates — now members of the Chargers organization along with Jim Harbaugh — NaVorro Bowman, Jonathan Goodwin, Mike Iupati, Will Tukuafu, Dashon Goldson, and Delanie Walker, who had already booked himself tickets to Canton in order to see his former teammate go into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
“We want to be there for Patrick and we’re going to do whatever it takes — even if it means getting up at 3 a.m. to catch a plane,” Walker said during a phone call with Daniel Brown. “He was a leader, he was a captain, he was a friend and he was somebody who cared about the community. Of course we all want to go.”
Patrick Willis reflects on days with Jim Harbaugh, 49ers
Patrick Willis will enter the Pro Football Hall of Fame despite playing just eight NFL seasons and 112 regular season games, which is the 23rd-fewest among the over 350 players who have been enshrined. It helps Willis' cause that he walked into the league as one of the best linebackers alive. Willis' 136 solo tackles during his rookie season were the 2nd-most in NFL history, trailing only a bonkers season from Ray Lewis in his second year in the league. The 49ers linebacker would make the Pro Bowl in his first seven seasons, and was named an All-Pro in his first six. The most successful seasons of Willis' career, from a team perspective, came in the first three seasons he spent playing for Jim Harbaugh, a coach Willis has the utmost respect for.
“I am a firm believer in whatever it is that he has. He has this aura about him,’’ Willis told Daniel Brown. “Under Harbaugh’s reign, I was fortunate enough to really see from top to bottom what it looks like to win. And what it takes to put together a team that plays with the unselfishness that he speaks of.”
In those three seasons — the final three healthy seasons of Patrick Willis' career — the 49ers won 36 of their 48 regular season contests, and made it to the NFC Championship Game all three years. In 2012, the 49ers made their first Super Bowl appearance since the days of Jerry Rice and Steve Young. Willis had ten tackles in San Francisco's 34-31 loss to the Baltimore Ravens.
It's been 11 years since the 49ers lost that Super Bowl, and nearly a full decade since Harbaugh last coached Willis, whose final season in San Francisco was cut short by a big toe injury that required season-ending surgery. But to this day, Patrick Willis' connection with his former coach remains strong, even with Harbaugh repping another California team this time around.
“Just truly full of smiles and just very appreciative that he would take this time right now out of his busy schedule,’’ Willis said. “I know his commitment to the 49ers and his commitment to me was a long time ago. And now he’s in a new place. So just to take the time as he is, it really means a lot.”
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