 |
 |
 |
|
For the most part, Harrison handled the media crush quite well. He was engaging, answered all the questions and was honest about being nervous, which most players wouldn't admit.
| Advertisement |
|||
| |||
"I've grown to be a lot less shy," he said.
So there's more to come?
"Don't expect this every time," Harrison said.
But we'll take what we can get. Any peek into this star receiver's world is a good thing. What makes him tick? What makes him so great? What makes him a guy the media wanted to surround Tuesday, just to see him squirm? Why is he so private?
Here's how private he is: Harrison admitted Tuesday that he didn't get a chance to talk to Colts quarterback Peyton Manning about what they had accomplished in beating New England until a few days after the AFC title game. That's just different.
Shy or aloof? Arrogant or misunderstood? Bad teammate or a private one?
Harrison is fourth on the all-time receptions list with 1,022 catches. He is 72 catches behind Tim Brown and 79 behind Cris Carter, which should move him into second place on the all-time list behind Jerry Rice. If Harrison plays five or six years, which is still possible, he could pass Rice's record that once seemed unbreakable.
Yet little is known about Harrison; few penetrate his personal wall.
"He's a lot more private than a lot of receivers in this league, that's for sure," Colts center Jeff Saturday said.
There is no dancing after touchdowns for Harrison. He was prodded by one woman to show his touchdown dance Tuesday, and he laughed.
"I don't have any," he said.
Watch him, and you know he doesn't. His touchdowns aren't about him. They're about the team.
In public, his teammates say all the right things about Harrison. They understand his private ways, and respect him for it. But few, if any, of his teammates are close to Harrison. Not Manning. Not Reggie Wayne, the team's other great receiver. Nobody knows who his friends are on the team.
One Colts practice-squad receiver said Harrison helps him a lot. But asked how well he knows him, the player looked shocked at the question.
"But I'm quiet, too," Devin Aromashodu said. "So it's OK."
During games, Harrison sits by himself between offensive series, on the opposite end of the bench from his teammates. Many times, he sits with his arms folded, his legs extended, looking totally disinterested. If a Chad Johnson or a Terrell Owens did that, they'd be ripped. But Harrison gets a pass.
Manning and Wayne and other offensive teammates sit on the opposite side of the bench from Harrison, going through pictures and talking strategy as Harrison stays away. It looks bad, but Harrison said there is a method to it.
"During the game, Peyton and I may talk on the field, but off the field we don't talk as much as we have in the past," Harrison said. " Jim Sorgi kind of plays the middle man. I always ask Sorgi what defense they are playing or what I can do to get open on another route. We sort of use the backup quarterback as a role to communicate between us."
That doesn't even sound right. But it works.
"They're 20 yards from each other, so I act as the guy that communicates for them," Sorgi said. "It's just something that worked out that way."
Manning and Harrison are the more prolific quarterback-receiver duo in league history. Rice had both Joe Montana and Steve Young. Manning and Harrison are forever linked.
The irony in that is Manning is everywhere. He does more national ads than any player in the league. Harrison does none. Manning loves bantering with the media, while Harrison clearly does not.
Does that make one way better? Not really. They both get it done with their styles. Manning takes loads of heat for his omnipresence, but Harrison gets a pass for not being media friendly.
Either way, none of it will really matter come Sunday if they find a way to win a Super Bowl. After that, the next stop is Canton for both. Wonder if Harrison is dreading that speech already?
Shy or aloof? Arrogant or misunderstood? Bad teammate or just a private one? Does any of it matter as long as greatness is the word most used to describe Marvin Harrison?
