NFL: Harrison closing in on 1,000

Published 12:00 am Tuesday, December 5, 2006

Associated Press

INDIANAPOLIS — Marvin Harrison’s mission statement has not changed: The next play matters more than the last one and the next cut carries more weight than gaudy numbers.

In Harrison’s world, it’s just business.

“I don’t think you need to raise a lot of chaos,” he said. “If you’re doing your job on the 10th floor of a building downtown, you don’t want to do that stuff, so why do it here?”

Harrison has strung together 11 remarkable NFL seasons with the Indianapolis Colts that puts him on the brink of joining the NFL’s exclusive

1,000-catch club.

He needs five catches at Jacksonville to join Jerry Rice, Tim Brown and Cris Carter as the only four members.

It would be easy for Harrison to point out some of his other milestones like the single-season record for receptions (143) that he shattered in 2002, being part of the most productive quarterback-receiver tandem ever or the fact he’s nearing 1,000 at a faster rate than anyone else.

Perhaps most impressive is that at 34, Harrison shows no signs of slowing down.

He caught seven passes for a season-high 172 yards last week at Tennessee, pushing his season totals to 68 catches, 993 yards and six touchdowns. He’s now on pace his eighth consecutive season with at least 80 catches and 1,000 yards.

He ranks sixth on the NFL’s career list for yards receiving (13,324), third in touchdowns receiving (116) — and he’s not about to stop pushing himself.

“Knowing that you have a guy who gives 100 percent each and every Sunday and who works hard in practice every day were my only goals coming into the league,” Harrison said. “I never came in here thinking about how many catches I’d have or anything like that.”