Harbaugh Asks Obamas To Be Honorary Michigan Football Captains

ANN ARBOR, MI — University of Michigan football Coach Jim Harbaugh has a terrific ask of private citizens Barack and Michelle Obama. Will the former president and first lady agree to be honorary captains for a game this fall at Michigan Stadium?

The request that the Obamas accept the nod of esteem and appear at an undisclosed game at the Big House was an ancillary agenda item on Harbaugh’s recent trip to Washington, D.C. Harbaugh’s bigger ask is of Congress: Vote down efforts by President Donald Trump to defund Legal Services Corp., which released a report to Congress, “The Justice Gap: Measuring the Unmet Civil Legal Needs of Low-Income Americans,” that spells out the consequences to America’s poor if LSC loses its funding.

Harbaugh has a relationship with the Obamas. He served on Michelle Obama’s education committee, has met with President Obama a few times, and appeared with him at a rally for Hillary Clinton in the final hours of the 2016 presidential campaign. Harbaugh and wife Sarah were also among the guests at one of the Obamas’ final White House parties.

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“There’s been, ‘Hey we’d like you to do it,’ ” Harbaugh told The Detroit News of his pitch to the Obamas to be honorary captains, “and now we’re doing official asks.”

During the visit, Harbaugh and his son, Jay, and Legal Services Corp. board chairman John Levi spent some personal time the Obamas to discuss proposed cuts that would wipe out a key legal lifeline for the nation’s poor. Harbaugh is a member of the LSC Leaders Council.

“We had 39 wonderful minutes with President Obama, saw Mrs.Obama as well and he was great, relaxed, working on a lot of things,” Harbaugh told the Detroit Free Press.

During their meeting, the former president “shared a lot of insights,” Harbaugh told the Free Press. “We talked about Legal Services Corp.”

Harbaugh is a vocal critic of Trump’s plan to defund Legal Services Corp., which provides nonprofit legal groups with billions of dollars in grants to assist low-income people. It is best known for working with law firms to provide pro bono defense attorneys, but the LSC also helps veterans find housing, helps senior citizens avoid scams, and provides for protection of domestic abuse and disaster survivors.

“The issue is about fairness, fundamental fairness,” Harbaugh said, according to a report by MLive.com. “As I see it, if you have money, you have access to justice. If you don't have money, you have less access to justice. That's not the way it should work.”

He said eliminating access to legal services to the poor “would be like only giving 20 percent of our (football team a helmet).”

“The rest of the team doesn’t get it. No protection. Run out there and play the game without a helmet and we'll see what happens,” he said. “Guys get hurt.”

Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images Sports/Getty Images