Gold Jacket Spotlight: Defense made case for greatness of Marvin Harrison

To grasp the achievements of MARVIN HARRISON, the least willing source to discuss those accomplishments would be, well … Marvin.

Although the Pro Football Hall of Famer was reluctant to discuss his success throughout his playing career and after his enshrinement in Canton, defensive opponents — charged with covering Marvin – respectfully shared their perspective of his efforts and talents. 

This week’s Gold Jacket Spotlight provides a portrait of the receiver about whom Sally Jenkins of the Washington Post once commented “… has pulled off a very neat trick; he has become great without becoming famous.”

In the course of Marvin’s 13-season career, he was on the receiving end of 1,102 passes, with a majority of them coming from the arm of Hall of Fame quarterback PEYTON MANNING.

Hall of Fame defensive backs CHAMP BAILEY and CHARLES WOODSON experienced the challenge of covering the elusive, speedy receiver.

Bailey, appearing on ESPN Radio’s “Mike and Mike in the Morning” declared, “... so I’m going to think about the guy that gave me the most problems, because I played him a lot, was Marvin Harrison. He was dangerous, and he had a dangerous arm throwing him the ball, so it was tough both ways. It’s a lot about the guy throwing him the ball as well, but he was quick, fast. I mean, he could do it all.”

Marvin and Manning would connect for 112 touchdowns during the seasons spanning 1998 to 2008, the most by any quarterback-receiver tandem.

In a piece he penned for ESPN.com, Woodson acknowledged, “Marvin Harrsion was the best receiver I played against, especially being a young player and just learning the game at this level. He was already at a high level, and the job was made even more difficult because it seemed like every time we played the Colts it was in Indianapolis, where they played on turf.”

“The Colts were fast on it,” Woodson continued, “and Marvin had everything. He was bigger than you would think from watching him on film, and he was fast and quick and ran great routes. They were going to line him on the defense’s left side every time, but he was tough to deal with even when you knew where he was going to be.

“I did understand it was going to be one of those days when I was going to play him. Really, he was the only guy I thought of like that,” concluded Woodson.

Echoing a thought of Woodson’s, James Harris, Jacksonville Jaguars vice president of personnel from 2003 to 2008, once asked Colts Hall of Fame coach TONY DUNGY, “I don’t understand how the best receiver on your team gets wide open all the time. Everybody knows he’s going to get the ball. How does he get wide open, with no one around him?”

“He’ll just run right past you and make you look stupid,” concluded Donovan McNabb, former quarterback in Philadelphia, Washington and Minnesota, and Marvin’s collegiate teammate at Syracuse.

Chicago Bears cornerback Charles Tillman also acknowledged Marvin as the best offensive player he faced, telling “Monday Morning Quarterback’s” Robert Klemko: “I could never touch him. He was so quick, like a little rabbit. I missed every time. Hardest person I ever had to cover. The best player I ever played against. He made me look terrible.”

The Colts defeated the Chicago Bears 29-17 in Super Bowl XLI.

Safety Bob Sanders, a Colts teammate, informed writer Khalil Garriott, that Marvin “gets the job done. He doesn’t really worry about showboating or spiking the ball. Marvin is kind of laid-back. I think whatever he does, he knows that’s what he supposed to be doing. It’s nothing new, so he doesn’t need to dance around, jump around and have fun. The plays he makes, he knows he should be making.”

The defense’s case was confirmed with Marvin’s Hall of Fame enshrinement in 2016.