The season was winding down when it was noted to Marvin Harrison Jr. that his rookie statistics looked a lot like the ones posted by his father a generation ago when Marvin Harrison Sr. debuted for the Indianapolis Colts.
Harrison Jr. broke into a small smile.
"It's not much bragging rights, I can tell you that," the Cardinals wide receiver said. "I've got a long way to go."
"He's got a lot of things that I am nowhere close to accomplishing."
Whether or not it was or will be fair to make comparisons between MHJ and MHS, it will be inevitable. The numbers are remarkably similar after one NFL season. In 1996, with Jim Harbaugh as his quarterback – Peyton Manning still had a couple of seasons left at the University of Tennessee – Harrison Sr. pulled in 64 receptions on 118 targets over 16 games, accounting for 836 yards and eight touchdowns.
In one more game for Harrison Jr. – albeit he played only briefly in Green Bay after suffering a concussion – and with Kyler Murray as his QB, the son had 62 receptions on 118 targets for 885 yards and eight touchdowns.
From his first year, MHS built a Hall of Fame career. As of now, MHJ just wants to build on one season of NFL knowledge and experience.
"I'm very grateful that I got to play all 17 games," Harrison Jr. said. "I was able to stay healthy, besides the Green Bay game. I'm definitely blessed and grateful for everything I accomplished. But I wouldn't call it a success."
That's the self-awareness MHJ carries. The No. 4 overall pick was considered by most the best wideout in the draft. Few expected him to be statistically below players like Malik Nabers and Brian Thomas Jr. – the two receivers listed on the Pro Football Writers of America all-rookie team announced this week – but there were plenty of moments that showed what could be.
He's got a blueprint, after all.
"My career, my path, he could see how successful it was," Harrison Sr. said after the Cardinals drafted his son. "Being in the same house, he could see what it takes to be great."
Multiple coaches have talked about MHJ's work ethic. His dedication goes beyond the extra 200 passes he catches (alongside teammate Michael Wilson) from the JUGS football machine almost every day.
His father was the same, although in his Hall of Fame speech, Harrison Sr. told an anecdote about his then-coach, Lindy Infante.
"During practice he would say to us, 'I don't like you guys catching passes. You make it look too easy,'" Harrison recounted. "I was a rookie and I didn't know what he was talking about, and he said, 'You've got to make tough catches and practice them.'"
Some 30 years later, as Harrison Jr. had to climb a learning curve with making his own tough catches in game situations, the anecdote resonates.
But Junior isn't Senior, either. Both have made that clear. Wide receivers coach Drew Terrell said he sees MHJ with "profound joy" when he plays, and what comes next is a comfort level that will allow Harrison Jr. to lean into the talent he brings – beyond the nameplate on his jersey.
"I think what is going to come naturally," Terrell said, "is that he's going to take a deep breath and exhale and be like, 'All right, I'm in the NFL, this is what I have worked my whole life for.
"'I'm Marvin Harrison Jr. and I'm a bad mother, and they got to feel me next time I'm out there.'"
Listening to the soft-spoken Harrison Jr. weekly by his locker, it's hard to picture him manifesting such a hard edge vocally, but getting into the mindset as a pass catcher feels inevitable. Coach Jonathan Gannon has been nothing but optimistic about what the future looks like, as has Murray.
The confidence within the Harrison family, however, is the foundation of hope.
"I'm a competitor, I want to succeed, I want to produce," Harrison Jr. said.
"We've had so many conversations over the years," Harrison Sr. said, "he knows the mission."
