Harbaugh, driver in Iowa City crash reunite after 47 years

Jan. 26--Dan McGivern wanted to set the record straight.

The infamous Iowa City car accident 47 years ago was little Jimmy Harbaugh's fault, not McGivern's.

"So I wrote him a letter last week. I said, hey, let's get the facts right, you hit me," McGivern told the Blade, with a chuckle. "There was this little kid running across the street putting his coat on over his head and he ran into the side of my car. I swerved and he hit the back quarter panel of my '67 Mustang, dented it, and broke his leg."

Harbaugh read the letter, leading to a reunion in Iowa City on Wednesday, where the Michigan Wolverines football coach was recruiting four-star wide receiver Oliver Martin.

The meeting began taking shape Wednesday morning when an unfamiliar number popped up on McGivern's phone.

"I answered and the voice said, 'This is Jim Harbaugh. Just read your letter, wanted to give you a call," said McGivern, 66.

They chatted for an hour and McGivern figured that was the end of it. But Harbaugh called back later in the afternoon and told McGivern he was in Iowa City and wanted to meet in person. They sat and talked for an hour and a half.

"It was fun. He's just a normal guy," McGivern said. "I've known [legendary Iowa wrestling coach] Dan Gable since he started coaching at Iowa. People who know Gable really well say he's goofy. If you spend some time with Harbaugh, you realize he's goofy. He's a guy who's enjoying what's going on."

With Dan McGivern of Iowa City. Driver, when I ran into traffic & took on his car @ age 6 #LifeSaver #DefiningMoment pic.twitter.com/UOM055euuY

-- Coach Harbaugh (@CoachJim4UM) January 26, 2017

The story of Harbaugh being hit by a mail truck was popularized when the Michigan coach told the story on his radio show last season. It occurred on the first day of school after the family moved to Iowa City when Harbaugh's father, Jack, took a job as an assistant coach for the Hawkeyes.

"It was getting dark. [Harbaugh's brother] John said, 'We gotta go.' So we picked up our stuff and we're running," Harbaugh said. "I was trying to put my jacket on over my head all at once, and I was just following after him, and he crossed the street. Busy street there. The next thing I know, I woke up in a hospital bed. I'd got hit by a mail truck. Broke my leg in two places, had a cast on for about six months. I was in the first grade."

Ironically, the McGiverns have become a Michigan family of sorts. Two of their sons attended the University of Michigan and their daughter married a Michigan Man. McGivern admitted that the Wolverines are their second favorite team, behind Iowa.

Once, while driving to an Iowa-Michigan game, McGivern went a back way to Kinnick Stadium when he stopped the car and pointed at an intersection.

"I said, 'Right there.' And my son-in-law said, 'What?' And I said, 'That's where Jim Harbaugh ran into my car," McGivern said.

For close to two decades, the memory of the accident faded. McGivern visited Harbaugh in the hospital and knew his father was an Iowa coach, but it never dawned on him who the boy was until Harbaugh, then a quarterback on the Chicago Bears, came back to speak at his old Catholic elementary school.

It just so happens that McGivern's children also attended the same school.

"I'm in the back of the room and Harbaugh was asked about his worst football injury," he said. "And he said his worst injury wasn't a football injury, but when he got hit by a car in Iowa City. I'm in the back of the room thinking, he just described the scenario of the accident. I put two and two together and told my wife. She said, 'Don't tell the boys, they'll be devastated you hit Jim Harbaugh.'"

Harbaugh couldn't help but laugh when he found out McGivern was a life insurance salesman. McGivern said Harbaugh was eager to come up with an idea to promote the paradox. He settled on a tweet to his 1.3 million followers.

It read, "For comprehensive Life Insurance coverage, call Dan McGivern at 319-351-4307."

Chris Patridge, Michigan's linebackers and special teams coach, told Harbaugh and McGivern that tweeting McGivern's phone number wasn't a good idea.

"I said, 'You guys don't understand life insurance, no one is going to call me,'" McGivern said.

A Blade reporter was just the third phone call he had received by 10 a.m. local time Thursday.

Contact Kyle Rowland at: krowland@theblade.com, 419-724-6110, or on Twitter @KyleRowland.

___

(c)2017 The Blade (Toledo, Ohio)

Visit The Blade (Toledo, Ohio) at www.toledoblade.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.