49ers beat writer Eric Branch put together a very solid piece today that attempts to explain Jim Harbaugh's actions, behavior and general attitude towards the media. While we can only guess so much without being inside Coach Harbaugh's head, Branch makes some pretty logical points about Coach Harbaugh's mentality. While it may be over the top on occasion, the general point seems to remain the same.
There was mention of a Peter King tweet I had missed that sort of goes towards the idea of real AND imagined slights:
Niners 3: Harbaugh on Kyle Wms: "We will not allow the media to hang an albatross ard his neck. He's on the inside of our team looking out."
— Peter King (@SI_PeterKing) July 31, 2012
As Branch pointed out, the media coverage of Kyle Williams has been pretty solid with few people really going over the line in critiques. Fans have blown up on Williams, but the media, not so much. But again, this kind of thing would seem to be all about creating that us against the world mentality that Coach Harbaugh craves. Far and away the best line has to be his comments after the 49ers win over the Eagles:
"We just feel more certain assurance of success when all that's written is written against us. When honey words of praise are flowered upon us that we begin to feel exposed before our enemies."