article

Marvin Daniel Harrison (born August 25, 1972, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an American football player who played for Syracuse University and is currently playing in the NFL for the Indianapolis Colts. Harrison has placed among the top wide receivers statistically since entering the league.

Career

He is most recognized for his stunning accomplishment in the 2002 NFL season, where he shattered Herman Moore's single season reception record by a whopping 20 receptions. He finished with 143 catches, and he also had over 1700 yards receiving. He was the only unanimous decision for the All-NFL team in 2002. Marvin Harrison recently tied with Carolina's Steve Smith for the most receiving touchdowns this past season, with 12, marking the first time he has ever lead the league in receiving touchdowns in his career.

Even with all of his success, however, Harrison is often criticized because he has not yet won a championship, and criticized especially about his performances in big playoff games, stating that he often seems to "disappear." Harrison, however, was involved in one of the most infamous blunders in the history of the NFL playoffs. In the 2003 NFL playoffs, Harrison, against the Denver Broncos, caught a 20 yard pass from Peyton Manning across the middle. Then, Deltha O'Neal, the Broncos cornerback, had forgot to touch Harrison to down him, Harrison proceeded to stand up and continued running, eventually scoring on a fifty-yard touchdown play. Broncos Head Coach Mike Shanahan was infuriated with O'Neal and the rest of the Bronco defenders that were around Harrison, who helped clinch victory as the Colts went up 28-3. Indianapolis would eventually win 41-10 in a total blowout.

Harrison would finish that game against Denver with 7 receptions for 133 yards and 2 touchdowns, in his finest post-season performance to date. He had another solid post-season game against the Chiefs, gaining 98 yards on 6 catches. Just when Harrison looked like he had rid himself of his post-season jitters, he was played aggressively by New England Patriots cornerback Ty Law in the 2005 AFC Title game, who limited him to just 3 catches for 19 yards. This game, however, was debated by many fans, who claimed that there had been an excessive amount of pass interference that was not called. The NFL reviewed this game and agreed that the game had been officiated poorly. This led to rule changes in the following off-season, which limited cornerback's actions against receivers. Many feel these rule changes have now made it so there can no longer be a "shut down corner" in the present NFL anymore. Despite this, the Colts would still end up losing to the Patriots in a divisional playoff game the following year, in which Harrison had 5 receptions for 44 yards (Ty Law was injured for the rest of the season prior to this game, and Asante Samuel was covering Harrison in the Colts' defeat).

While his post-season performances have not been stellar, no one can overlook Harrison's regular season career, where his statistics are clearly capable of securing his entry into the NFL Hall of Fame.

In a recent episode of "The Top Five Reasons You Can't Blame" on ESPN Classic concerning the excessive celebrations of wide receiver Terrell Owens, former Buffalo Bills coach Marv Levy said this about Harrison: "Terrell Owens is a guy that has to go out there and get recognized for his antics and celebrations, while a guy like Marvin Harrison wants to be recognized for his play on the field, not his antics or celebrations. That's the kind of receiver you want on your team".

Harrison underwent elbow surgery in May 2006. It is unclear whether this will impede his return to the starting lineup prior to the start of the Colts regular season.

NFL Records

  • Currently Harrison is averaging 93 receptions per season (92.7 rounded), which is an all time record. He is still well ahead of second place Sterling Sharpe who averaged 85 receptions per season (and should be noted Sterling played fewer seasons, which would only help his average).
  • Holds the record for most Receptions in a single season with 143, obliterating the previous record of 123 set by Herman Moore.
  • Only player to have four consecutive 100 or more reception seasons in NFL history.
  • Became the only player ever in the history of the NFL to have six double digit reception games in one single season in the 2002 regular season.
  • Became the only player in NFL history to have 12 games with 8 or more receptions in a single season in 2002.
  • Marvin Harrison and Peyton Manning hold the record for most receptions between a QB and a WR with 723 receptions.
  • Marvin Harrison and Peyton Manning also hold the record for most receiving yards between a QB and a WR with 9641 receiving yards.
  • Harrison trails only Jerry Rice in 1500 or more receiving yard seasons. He has 3 such seasons, Rice had 4.
  • Marvin Harrison averages approximately 6 receptions per regular season game--an NFL record.
  • Marvin Harrison and Peyton Manning currently hold the NFL record in receiving touchdowns between a QB and WR with 92 as of Sunday, December 04, 2005.
  • Marvin Harrison achieved 900 career receptions in the shortest period of time in NFL history.
  • With 51 career 100 yard receiving games, Marvin Harrison now ranks #2 all time behind Jerry Rice and his 76 career 100 yard receiving games.
  • With 7 straight seasons of 1000 yards or more and 10 or more receiving TD's, Marvin Harrison has now set an NFL record passing Jerry Rice.
  • Second fastest player to achieve 100 receiving touchdowns.

NFL year by year statistics

Year Team G GS Rec Yards AVG LG TD
1996 IND 16 15 64 836 13.1 41 9
1997 IND 16 15 73 866 11.9 56 6
1998 IND 12 12 59 776 13.2 61 7
1999 IND 16 16 115 1663 14.5 57 12
2000 IND 16 16 102 1413 13.9 78 14
2001 IND 16 16 109 1524 14.0 68 15
2002 IND 16 16 143 1722 12.0 69 11
2003 IND 15 15 94 1272 13.5 79 10
2004 IND 16 16 86 1113 12.9 59 15
2005 IND 15 15 82 1146 14.0 80 12
Tot. N/A 154 152 927 12331 13.3 80 110
  • Pro Bowl selections: 1999 · 2000 · 2001 · 2002 · 2003 · 2004 · 2005
  • All-AFC Pro Selections: 1999 · 2000 · 2001 · 2002 · 2003 · 2004
  • All-NFL Pro Selections: 1999 · 2000 · 2001 · 2002 · 2003 · 2004

News

On December 9, 2004 Harrison signed a seven-year extension worth $67 million.

External links

1972 births | AFC Pro Bowl players | American football wide receivers | Big 33 Football Classic alumni | Indianapolis Colts players | Living people | People from Philadelphia | Syracuse Orange football players

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Marvin Harrison".

Home Page • arts • business • computers • games • health • hospitals • home • kids & teens • news • physicians • recreation• reference • regional • science • shopping • society • sports • world