Jim Harbaugh Lauded Justin Herbert for Keeping His Cool While Stuck in Elevator

Kristen Wong | Aug 25, 2024

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Friday’s elevator debacle likely wasn’t the only time Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert will have to escape pressure this year. But according to his coach, Jim Harbaugh, Herbert did an outstanding job.

Herbert was one of 11 or 12 players stuck in a broken elevator at the Chargers’ hotel in downtown Dallas on Friday night before the Chargers’ preseason finale. A technician was unable to repair the elevator, which was stuck in a blind shaft between the third and 15th floors, causing the Dallas Fire-Rescue to send a team to help guide occupants in the elevator to safety. 

With the Dallas Fire-Rescue’s help, those stuck in the elevator escaped by crawling one by one through a ceiling panel. After the debacle, Harbaugh singled out Herbert for being a natural leader in a time of crisis.

“That’s a shared experience that brought them closer together,” Harbaugh said Saturday after the Chargers’ 26-19 preseason win over the Cowboys. “I just missed it, being on that elevator. It was like, ‘Wish I could have been there with those guys.’ But Justin Herbert was.”

Harbaugh noted how impressed he was that Herbert didn’t sweat the situation—literally.

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

“The remarkable things that came out of it was, to a guy, young rookie players, ‘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.”

Harbaugh, who reportedly invited members of the Dallas Fire-Rescue team to a Chargers team meal at the hotel after the successful rescue, also took the time to thank the Dallas Fire Department for their efforts.

But, he couldn’t resist dropping one of his famous Harbaugh-isms and said, “Who’s got it better than those guys that were on that elevator?!” 

The Chargers will open their season against the Las Vegas Raiders on Sep. 8.