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Tony Dungy, Marvin Harrison Enter Pro Football Hall Of Fame Together

Intro: On Saturday night, the Colts will see two of their own go into football immortality. Both Tony Dungy and Marvin Harrison walked away from the game in 2008 and now will enter the Pro Football Hall of Fame together.

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CANTON, Ohio. – Tony Dungy couldn't believe what he was seeing.

Wait, that can't be Marvin Harrison?

Him?

A guy of that size is one of the game's best receivers?

Yes, coach. That's Marvin.

Once Dungy quickly realized the physical stature of Harrison was no determent to his play, the coach was in awe of how coachable his top receiver was in Indianapolis.

"He told me that he wanted to be coached well, wanted to work hard. He was very serious about his game," Dungy says of his fellow Canton inductee in 2016.

"The thing I appreciated about Marvin, the only time he came into talk to me at all was about bringing either his junior high, high school teammates, (or) somebody from Philadelphia to practice. That's the only time he ever came into my office. It was never anything about contract, balls, how many passes he would catch, we are working too hard, nothing. He would only come in about bringing people to practice. There was never any drama, never any problems. He did his job, let his play speak for itself and, boy, you appreciate that as a coach."

For Harrison, his first interaction with Dungy left him not wanting to let his new coach down.

"My first impressions of Coach Dungy was a father," Harrison says. "He laid down the laws on how he wanted his team run---'I shouldn't have to tell you things two or three times over. I will tell you once and that's how I want it done.' It was pretty simple.

"I was all on board with that. When he came in, we wanted to win. Obviously, we won a lot of games that way."

During their Friday media session in Canton, both Harrison and Dungy offered there thanks to Jim Irsay.

It was Irsay spearheading the hiring of Dungy back in 2002.

What Irsay meant to Harrison is going to be evident Saturday night, when the Colts Owner presents Marvin into the Hall.

"Jim Irsay has such a big heart and has done so many things for everyone that has come through that organization," Dungy says. "I could tell you 25 things that he's done for my family that no one knows about.

"Marvin is honoring that and how special Jim was. It's a great tribute to him, but that's who Marvin is."

Irsay will be beaming on Saturday night when he watches two pillars of his organization have their busts revealed.

The head coach will be smiling, too.

When Dungy received the knock singling his induction into the Hall of Fame back in February, his first question was if Harrison was joining him.

"To go in together, that's kind of the ultimate," Dungy says. "When I started working for Coach Noll, he said, 'You're job is to help your players be the best they can be.'

"So to know that I had a small part in Marvin being the best that he could be---a Hall of Famer. That's really more satisfying than going in myself."

Tony Dungy and Marvin Harrison at the 2016 Pro Football Hall of Fame Enshrinees' Gold Jacket Dinner.

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