Marvin Harrison spent 13 seasons in the National Football League, catching 1,102 passes, gaining 14,580 yards and scoring 128 touchdowns as a wide receiver. Do those numbers merit Hall of Fame induction? Let’s look at some other positives from his career.
On the all-time lists, Harrison ranks second in receptions, sixth in receiving yards and fifth in receiving touchdowns—clearly, he ranks among the best in multiple receiving categories. In addition, he caught more than 90 passes in a season six times and more than 100 passes four times (all in consecutive seasons), actually leading the league in that category twice. In fact, he holds the single-season record for most catches, setting the mark with 143 in 2002.
Because he caught so many passes in his career, it seems to reason that he would collect a lot of yards as well—which he did. He had more than 1,500 passing yards in a season three times, leading the league in that category twice. As a result, he also led the league in yards per game twice as well.
In addition to having a lot of receptions and yards, he also scored a bunch of touchdowns—in total, he scored at least 10 touchdowns eight seasons in a row, with a career high of 15 being met in both 2001 and 2004. He scored 12 touchdowns in 2005, leading the league in that category that season.
Outside of his statistical achievements, Harrison also has many accolades to his name, including eight Pro Bowl selections and three First Team All-Pro selections.
Though Harrison seems to have an impressive résumé, there are downsides to his career as well. For example, he may rank high on a lot of lists—but that does not automatically guarantee Hall of Fame induction. Right next to Harrison on the all-time receptions list, in spots number three and four, are Cris Carter and Tim Brown. Both of those players, though excellent, were not elected to the Hall of Fame in 2010 in their third and first years of eligibility, respectively.
In addition, Harrison ended his career on a semi-sour note, catching a combined 80 passes in his final two seasons after receiving 95 in 2006. He also had two of the lowest yards-per-reception totals of his career in those years.
Well, I have provided the positives and the negatives, the pluses and the minuses, the good and the bad of Marvin Harrison’s NFL career. So—should he be Canton-bound? Or, in this era of great wide receivers, do his numbers not quite stack up?
