CANTON, Ohio – The GOAT is a fan of the newest wide receiver about to join him in Canton.
At the 2016 Pro Football Hall of Fame Enshrinement Gold Jacket Dinner on Thursday night, Jerry Rice, the NFL's greatest wide receiver of all time, caught up with Colts.com to share his thoughts on Marvin Harrison's induction this weekend.
Rice even saw some of himself in Harrison.
"Not the biggest guy, but a big heart," Rice said of Harrison on Thursday night in Canton. "I remember watching him and Peyton Manning during warmups. They would go through the entire route tree and it was full speed. That was something I was really impressed by.
"A guy that was very *fast. Probably the same knock on him, they had on me---that was I was not that *fast receiver. But he was very elusive on the football field. He could defeat bump and run, had good hands and when he got behind you…there was no way he was dropping it."
The careers of Rice and Harrison overlapped and had plenty of parallels.
Rice played 20 seasons in the NFL (1985-2004), earning first-ballot Hall of Fame honors thanks to NFL records in receptions (1,549), receiving yards (22,895) and touchdowns (197).
Harrison played from 1996-2008. His stats over 13 NFL seasons were as followed: 1,102 receptions, 14,580 receiving yards and 128 touchdowns.
In comparing game-by-game numbers, Harrison actually has slightly more impressive numbers than Rice. In per-game averages, Harrison bests Rice in receptions (5.8 to 5.1), yards (76.7 to 75.6) and touchdowns (.674 to .650).
Colts.com will have coverage all weekend from Canton for the Hall of Fame inductions of Tony Dungy and Marvin Harrison.
