Marvin Harrison Jr.’s long and winding path to draft night
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Quarterbacks might headline this year’s NFL draft. But Ohio State receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. isn’t expected to wait too long when the first round takes place Thursday night in Detroit.
“I think I’m the hardest working player in the country,” Harrison said last December.
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The Philadelphia-native is already a Buckeyes legend. He’s the first player in school history to record back-to-back seasons with over a thousand rushing yards. And the Biletnikoff Award winner is in the conversation among the best Ohio State has ever seen.
“That great legacy of Ohio State receivers, I think are about the Cris Carters and then some of the teams that I’ve had in the past with Chris and Gary [Williams] and Jaxon [Smith-Njigba],” Harrison said. “You know, to even be in that conversation is an honor within itself. And it’s something I’m super proud of. It is something that I worked very hard for and just never really thought that I’d actually get there.”
Now Harrison has his sights set on the NFL. But that was a decision that didn’t come easily.
Marv at a crossroads
In December, after Ohio State lost to Michigan, the junior wideout was still contemplating his future.
“I think incomplete is the way you could describe it, but, you know, it’s something that, you know, if I do decide to move on and not come back, I will have to live with. It would be very hard for me,” Harrison said. “But yeah, I think definitely winning the Big Ten championship and beating the team up north, I want to do really that as a college football player.”
But there’s no doubt that his talent is more than good enough to make the league.
“Marvin Harrison Jr. is ready to go to the pro level. He’s so good, you know, he’s fast, he’s athletic. He can high point the football and catch the ball in a crowd,” NBC4 Ohio State football analyst Bill Conley said. “And, you know, we’ve had some great receivers at Ohio State. Guys like Terry Glenn, Joey Galloway, Cris Carter. And he has the same type of skills that they do. The ability to not only catch the ball but get yards after the catch. He’s going to be a special player. I believe in the NFL.”
In pursuit of perfection
It’s the work ethic that separates Harrison from the rest. Just ask Ohio State head coach Ryan Day.
“He’s in there early in the morning. He’s out there late at night,” Day said. “We’ll practice however long we practice and practice gets done.”
Harrison’s dedication is illustrated by Day’s story of how he practices with the jug machine.
“I’ll go up and eat and he’ll still be out there on the jugs going through the routine. He goes through every play. You know, just going through it in his head. Then he’ll get on the the machine that he has, which you should see this machine, he can actually feed it. And then he presses the button on it and he shoots it to himself. Coach Mick [Marotti] made a rule that he has to bring somebody with him now, though, he can’t just go on his own.”
Following his dad’s footsteps
There’s already a blueprint for success in the Harrison household. His dad, Marvin Harrison, left his own legacy with the Colts.
“That’s a Hall of Famer. You always compare yourself to him like your whole life. You’re chasing after your dad, who’s the best possible to ever play the game,” Harrison Jr. said. “So I think the standard has always been high.”
And it’s that standard that explains why he spends long hours training for the moment he’ll hear his name called on draft night.
“It worked for him. It’s going to work for me. Obviously the goals he reaches are the goals that I’m trying to accomplish. So why not follow the same footsteps as he did? Why not try to put in more work in than he did knowing that it got him to where he was at.”
Harrison says he tried to take a different path, but it made him feel unsure about his future.
“Whereas if you take the path that he took, you know, the results are going to be,” Harrison said.
These days, Harrison does his training away form the spotlight and hidden from the view of the cameras that try to watch his every move. He skipped the combine in Indianapolis as well as Ohio State’s pro day, believing what he’s already done on the field is enough to be a top pick in the draft.
The question now is where.
“I’m glad I make there, that’s all,” Harrison said. “Glad I’m making it there.”
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