Marvin Harrison Jr. chases his own identity in the place his dad became a star

WESTFIELD - Marvin Harrison Jr. doesn't have his Colts gear anymore.

"I outgrew all of it," he said.

It's been nearly two decades since the No. 4 pick in this year's NFL Draft used to walk across a field like this one after a Colts training camp practice to find his father following a long day of catching passes from Peyton Manning. Marvin Harrison Sr. was in the early days of a Hall-of-Fame career when he would bring his son around to meet Edgerrin James, Reggie Wayne and other members of one of the best offenses in NFL history.

Now, the younger Harrison is walking up to those men as his own person. He's the one at Colts training camp in a joint practice as the No. 1 target of the Arizona Cardinals.

His father always told him to blaze his own trail, despite the shared name and bloodlines. And every rep across two days of joint practice with the Colts is about living out that dream.

""It is kind of crazy," Harrison said. "The first joint practice against the Colts, who would've thought that?"

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The younger Harrison is an Indianapolis kid in an adopted sense. He grew up in Philadelphia, where his father was born and raised, before he went on to become an All-American at Ohio State. But he came here for training camp and games his father played in.

He grew up watching the highlights his father created as one of two elite wide receivers for Manning and those explosive Colts offenses. He wanted to become just like him as a wide receiver, studying every movement to grow into the player who just got open again and again.

"I always thought I'd be here," Harrison said.

Wednesday at the Grand Park Sports Complex was one of the first steps to doing that. It's not his first training camp practice. And he's played in big games, such as the Rose Bowl and the College Football Playoffs.

But this was the setting where his father made a name once, and there was no clearer reminder of that than when the crowd roared as Harrison Sr. roamed the sidelines, throwing footballs into the stands as fans launched for positioning.

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All the while, Harrison Jr. was out on the grass, running routes so crisp that he left Kenny Moore II lost inside as he darted to the sideline, or catching a ball along the white stripe with such precision that he still found room for yards after the catch.

"I made it at this point, with my own path," Harrison said. "I just want to work hard and see where it takes me."

If the older Harrison is considered reserved, the younger one can be termed as bashful. Harrison Jr. wears a smile and lives for his craft, but he plays down plenty of the moments his dad created in the way they created him. It's not that they aren't close, as Harrison Sr. has acted largely as an agent for his son in the pre-draft process, advising him through the decisions to not perform workouts at the NFL Scouting Combine or at Ohio State's pro day. If anything, this process has brought them closer.

But to realize his potential, the younger Harrison has to realize their differences. He stands 6-foot-4, or four inches taller than his father. He doesn't have Wayne opposite him. His quarterback was selected No. 1 overall, but Kyler Murray is an entirely different flavor than Manning was.

How he takes to a name with heightened expectations and puts definition to the "junior" in it will tell his career arc.

In these early days, he's making the right impression.

"It's just how consistent his day-to-day is," Cardinals coach Jonathan Gannon said. "Normally, first-year guys, you help them along with the consistency and self-awareness, and he doesn't need much help with those things. On the field, it takes care of itself, but I'm honestly more impressed with him off the field."

The younger Harrison's arc started on a field like this, as a kid too young to play youth football but old enough to run into his father's sweaty arms after a day out in the sun. Now, those days in the sun belong to him, and it's his father walking over to check in on those dreams and to bring a slice of levity to the dog days of training camp.

Life has come full-circle in the Harrison household.

Contact Nate Atkins at natkins@indystar.com. Follow him on Twitter @NateAtkins_.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Marvin Harrison Jr. chases his own identity in the place his dad became a star