Marvin Harrison Jr. is chasing his Hall-of-Fame father: 'I'm trying to get there'

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The NFL scouts descended upon Ohio State's pro day to get an up-close look at C.J. Stroud and others heading into this year's draft.

But they couldn't help but watch the receiver he was throwing to.

Marvin Harrison Jr. lined up out wide in the Woody Hayes Athletic Center's indoor turf and ran route after route on air, from deep outs to quick slants to slow-developing digs to the downfield fades and post routes that display the ceiling Stroud has to offer. Pass after pass stuck to Harrison's white gloves, and nothing seemed out of reach for a 6-foot-4 All-American.

A Hall-of-Fame receiver watched with a smile.

"It's a credit to him that he's worked extremely hard to get to this point," Marvin Harrison Sr. said. "As a dad, after you've played so many years, you want to sit back and watch.

"I told him, 'Don't get too excited. It's not for you. It's for (C.J.).'"

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He's trying to raise his son to be the most humble version of himself, which isn't easy given the name they share. Harrison Sr. topped 1,000 yards every year from 1999-2006 as the go-to receiver for Peyton Manning and a Colts team that won six division championships and a Super Bowl. He ranks fifth in NFL history with 1,102 receptions and 128 touchdowns and ninth all-time with 14,580 yards.

"He's taught me pretty much everything I know ‒ more so the mentality of the game and how to approach the game," the younger Harrison said. "I try to work as hard as he did. He obviously set the bar very high, and I have big shoes to fill, but I'm trying to get there."

A four-star recruit out of high school, Harrison Jr. broke onto the scene with a three-touchdown performance in a Rose Bowl comeback victory over Utah to end his freshman season in 2021.

Last year, he racked up 77 catches for 1,263 yards and 14 touchdowns on a gaudy 16.4 yards per catch to lead Ohio State to the College Football Playoff, where it came a point short against defending national champion Georgia. He finished in the top six in the nation in receiving yards and touchdowns, and he did it with defenses centered on him in the absence of Jaxon Smith-Njigba, another Ohio State receiver set to go in the first round of this spring's draft.

The environment helps. Stroud is expected to be a surefire top-five pick, and Ohio State has developed successful pro receivers for years, from Michael Thomas to Terry McLaurin to Chris Olave to Garrett Wilson, last year's NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year.

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But some believe Harrison Jr. could be the best of them all. None of those names matched the production he had last season, none measure 6-4, and none have the bloodlines of a Hall-of-Famer at the same position.

Colts receivers coach Reggie Wayne believes he's a better prospect than his dad was at the time.

"He's bigger than Marvin," Wayne said of Jr. "He's tall. He's faster than Marv."

Harrison Jr. grew up following the Colts, of course. He was born in 2002, right before his father posted the best season of his career with 143 catches and 1,722 yards. He was only 6 years old when his father retired, and he grew up in Philadelphia, but those Colts highlights were a regular part of the father-son relationship.

If the Colts draft a quarterback this spring as expected, Harrison Jr. could become an ideal target next year. Michael Pittman Jr. is slated to become a free agent, and Indianapolis has a wide receivers coach in Wayne who knows exactly what it took to get his father to the heights they saw in the mid-2000s.

"When you've got two great receivers, one on each side, it takes a little pressure off of me," Harrison Sr. said of Wayne. "Of course he should be in the Hall-of-Fame ‒ not that he should be, but he will be."

So much has changed since the older Harrison was in the spot his son is in now. He was a first-round pick out of Syracuse, but he didn't even have a pro day. Social media and round-the-clock draft coverage did not exist in 1996.

The hype is about to rise with his son. If he can stay healthy and replicate the 1-on-1 dominance he showed this season, now with a new quarterback, he could test off the charts athletically relative to his size. He's listed on Ohio State's website at 204 pounds, or 20 pounds heavier than his father played at.

"Everyone says, 'Why is he so good?' Well, it didn't happen yesterday. It happens over time," Harrison Sr. said. "The most credit goes to him. He could just be some guy who thinks he's better than everyone else and doesn't work, but it's the opposite. He's worked really hard to get to where he is."

That's a worry for later, though. Harrison Jr. is locked into where his feet are, running routes for a quarterback he loves and wants to see go places. He isn't nervous about what's to come.

He wasn't raised that way.

"The NFL is going away no time soon. It's going to be around for the next 100 years," Harrison Sr. said. "So we're just enjoying it right now."

Contact Colts insider Nate Atkins at natkins@indystar.com. Follow him on Twitter @NateAtkins_.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Colts: Marvin Harrison Jr. is chasing his Hall-of-Fame father