A pre-Harbaugh Super Bowl family affair
By Cheryl Raye-StoutA pre-Harbaugh Super Bowl family affair
By Cheryl Raye-StoutThere was a Chicago story that had a similar complexity when the Bears lost to the Indianapolis Colts in the Super Bowl six years ago.
The Colts had a young wide receiver Aaron Moorehead and his father, Emery an Evanston native was a member of the 1985 Super Bowl Champion Bears. Aaron grew up in the Chicago-area, played ball at Deerfield High School and went to the University of Illinois. He was a Bear fan and can still remember as a kindergartener the experience of Super Bowl XX, “You remember it being a very big deal,” said Aaron.
According to his dad, his son was very popular with his young classmates. It was touching to learn that Aaron’s class had made a paper mache bowl and the students filled it with “good luck” notes for the Bears tight end— Emery still has it.
For Aaron, his childhood was filled with the legendary players from that Bear team that taught him life lessons, “My goals are never unreachable and no moment was too big for me—these guys were it.” He maintains friendships with some of the player’s children.
The Bears— a team that was a huge factor in this family would play a different role for the younger Moorehead— as an opponent. As an undrafted wide receiver from Illinois, he was signed by Indianapolis in 2003. His dad said Aaron cemented his roster spot by having a good pre-season game---against the Bears.
After the Super Bowl, the elder Moorehead said it was “very emotion and very draining.” He added it is very hard to watch and not be able to help his son.
Schedules make it difficult for Emery to spend time with his son during the Super Bowl, Aaron landed a new job as the wide receiver coach for Virginia Tech and has to recruit players. Nice that he has Super Bowl credentials talking to players.
Emery and Aaron know Sunday will have a difficult time for the Harbaugh family cheering during this game (you can bet the TV cameras will be focused on them). The Mooreheads are familiar with this close-knit family; Aaron was one of Jim’s assistants at Stanford. Emery was Jim’s former teammate, “I can only imagine the stress for the family, you can’t pick a side, you love them equally.” At least for the Mooreheads it was family and a team, not choosing between family members. They did make history of their own, they were the first father and son duo to become Super Bowl winners. Unfortunately, for the Harbaugh family, there will be one winner and one loser.
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