Jim Harbaugh praises Justin Herbert’s leadership after Chargers QB helped team stuck in broken elevator

Jim Harbaugh praised Justin Herbert's leadership skills for being composed despite being stuck in an elevator and keeping everybody calm.

Jim Harbaugh praises Justin Herbert’s leadership after Chargers QB helped team stuck in broken elevator

Jim Harbaugh and Justin Herbert (Via Imago)

Justin Herbert has truly charmed his head coach Jim Harbaugh, but it wasn’t for something he did on the football field. He earned high praise for something he did while being stuck in an elevator for a few hours with 10 or 11 other players of his team, the Los Angeles Chargers. 

Prior to Saturday’s preseason win over the Dallas Cowboys, Herbert and his teammates hopped on the elevator at the team hotel in Dallas. However, they got stuck for two hours without air conditioning before ultimately being rescued by Dallas Fire Rescue, through the ceiling panel one at a time to an adjacent elevator. 

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Justin Herbert's a leader. He was a rock. Kept everybody calm.'Jeri Fouts told me the same thing, pulled me aside after they got out, just how great Justin was. And everybody kept their poise.
Jim Harbaugh said, via the Associated Press

Harbaugh particularly praised the quarterback for being composed and able to handle the fretting situation. He shared that while many players had taken off their shirts because of sweating, Herbert hadn’t. They shared the elevator with two women as well, including Hall of Famer Dan Fouts’ wife, Jeri. 

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Justin Herbert, his hair was a little wet, but his shirt was completely dry. That was another thing that blew me away. The guy is just a beast.
Jim Harbaugh added

Quarterback Herbert displayed exceptional leadership skills when he took charge of the elevator stuck with anxious people inside between the third and fifth floors of the Westin Hotel in downtown Dallas.

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Jim Harbaugh praises team’s resilience after elevator rescue

Although everybody was rescued from the elevator safely, the Chargers head coach highlighted how worse the situation could have gotten. But he believes times like these are what test our “wills” and was proud of his team players and the two women for handling it well. 

You get in those situations, and it’s a test of wills. I was proud of each of the guys and the two women that were on that elevator. That’s a win. You feel good about yourself. You were challenged. It was a test of will, and you pull it down or pull it in. It was a camaraderie amongst that group that is even stronger than it was before.
Jim Harbaugh added
Chargers' HC Jim Harbaugh with his team
Chargers’ HC Jim Harbaugh with his team (Via LA Times)

While highlighting the difficulty and gravity of the situation, Harbaugh claimed that if the Dallas Fire Department hadn’t come, they might have been stuck for several hours and it’s scary to think how much worse it may have got. But thanks to the Dallas Fire-Rescue’s Urban Search and Rescue team, everyone was saved and was invited to a team with the Chargers’ team at the hotel. 

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