Why Marvin Harrison Jr.'s HOF dad struggles watching him play for the Cardinals

TEMPE, Ariz. -- When Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. takes the field at AT&T Stadium on Monday night against the Dallas Cowboys, his dad will be sitting at home, 1,500 miles away in Philadelphia, watching on TV.

That will be a struggle for the Hall of Fame wide receiver.

Any time Marvin Harrison Sr. turns on his son's games, he sees an NFL that looks vastly different from the sport he left in 2008 after playing 13 seasons with the Indianapolis Colts. He sees a quarterback primarily in the shotgun, his son being moved around the field from wideout to the slot and back again, and motions from every direction.

He also sees a Cardinals offense that's struggled to produce yards and points as it has slogged to a 2-5 record, heading into "Monday Night Football" on a five-game losing streak.

"It's very hard for me to watch the Cardinals' offense," Harrison Sr. told ESPN. "And you can quote me on that."

A season and a half into his son's NFL career, the elder Harrison has been forced to grapple with being a former player who's the father of a current player. The balance needed to navigate that isn't always easy to find. Harrison Sr. can't help but watch his son's games with the critical eye of a former player, and he wants, desperately, to help his son, to tell him what to do, to try to fix Arizona's issues. But Harrison Jr. is an adult, a well-compensated professional, a fourth pick, and Harrison Sr. knows it's his time to sit on the sideline, watch and try to enjoy his oldest son's professional career.

But it's hard. The 53-year-old Harrison Sr. is aware of how he sounds.

"The style of offense that I am accustomed to, that I'm used to watching as a professional eye, as a wide receiver ... I just can't relate to watching that [current] offense, that style of offense," Harrison Sr. said. "Basically, I can't relate to what goes on there.

"I think that's just peacefully put, without pointing fingers or anything. It's just me. I'm giving you the professional eye. I can't relate to it. It don't add up to me. I can't deal with it."

Those words aren't new to his son.

Harrison Jr. has heard his dad's concerns and complaints dating back to last season. But Harrison Sr. walks a tightrope when he brings up football with his son, a rare occurrence these days. He stays away from talking about the day-to-day, not wanting to be an armchair quarterback from across the country because he's not there, in the meetings, and he doesn't understand the intricacies of the Cardinals' scheme like he did the Peyton Manning-led offense in Indianapolis.

"I don't get into what goes on the field and the things that I see," Harrison Sr. said. "I just leave it alone. I don't even bother bringing it up no more."

That might be wise, considering the Cardinals' struggles, especially in the passing game. They're 23rd in passing yards per game at 199.9, 26th in passing yards per play at 5.78 and quarterback Kyler Murray is 24th in QBR at 44.1. Murray is ranked 29th in yards per attempt, 31st in yards per dropback and 33rd in yards per attempt while throwing six touchdowns and three picks in five starts.

Jacoby Brissett will start a third straight game in place of Murray (foot) on Monday, but it's possible Murray will see some action.

Harrison Jr. averages 56.6 receiving yards per game and has 40 targets over seven games, which is 54th, and he has just two touchdown catches. ESPN's receiver score ranks him as the NFL's 48th-best receiver -- a notable improvement from 2024, when he ranked 93rd.

He is second on the Cardinals in targets and receiving yards per game behind tight end Trey McBride (66 targets, 60.1 yards per game).

When father and son talk on the phone, whether that's a couple of days in a row or if weeks pass between calls, they typically stick to discussing Harrison Jr.'s younger brother, Jett, a high school sophomore at St. Joseph's Prep School in Philadelphia who is in line to be the next great Harrison receiver. Or they don't talk about football at all.

"It takes a lot of self-restraint and duct tape," the family patriarch said. "I got to close my mouth and just don't say nothing."

That hasn't been easy, but Harrison Jr. understands what his dad is going through.

"I think our situations are different," Harrison Jr. said. "I think the era of football is different, the system I think ... to be honest with you guys, it's just like he played with Peyton Manning, obviously a Hall of Fame quarterback.

"It's hard for him to watch. I think it's a combination of what he's used to. Obviously, if you're a parent who's never played football and you see your kid playing, this is all you know, but he's been in the locker room, been on an NFL team, been in the best offense with one of the best quarterbacks of all time. So, he kind of sees it all from a different perspective. I think that's what kind of makes it hard to watch for him."

It has become bad enough for Harrison Sr. that he doesn't go to games because he wants to protect his "mental capacity." It doesn't bother Harrison Jr., who said he has never been someone who needs physical support at games.

Despite being disenchanted with the Cardinals' offense, Harrison Sr. has stopped short of assigning blame. He doesn't want to single anyone out.

That, however, hasn't limited his unhappiness.

He didn't want to comment on how the Cardinals are using his son, mainly because he doesn't know what's being discussed, taught and assigned in meetings.

"What I do know is you can put Marvin Harrison Sr., in my prime, in Arizona right now, and guess what happened?" he said. "Canton, Ohio, [home of the Pro Football Hall of Fame] is going to send me a prepaid envelope and say, 'Could you please send that jacket back?' So, I'm not speaking for anyone. I'm speaking for me.

"I'm just telling you that jacket, they'd be sending a prepaid envelope. 'Thanks for all your help, but send that jacket back, please.'"

To Harrison Jr., the Cardinals' offense under offensive coordinator Drew Petzing is all he knows, but he has gotten a small taste of what else is out there through conversations with his former Ohio State teammates catching passes around the league. Seattle Seahawks star Jaxon Smith-Njigba leads the NFL with 117 receiving yards per game and is tied for fourth with 70 targets, and New Orleans Saints wideout Chris Olave is fourth in receptions with 52.

Harrison Jr. has heard about their experiences, how they line up and what they get to do within their offenses.

"I feel like any kind of system can work if you have the 11 guys executing at a high level, whether that's certain receivers getting maybe more targets than others," Harrison Jr. said. "I think it all really still comes down to execution.

"I think you can still make it work, but you got to play the cards you're dealt."

Manning once told Harrison Jr. that his dad never had to ask for the ball because "I got it to him."

"It was like, well, that's not the case for everyone," Harrison Jr. said.

Harrison Jr. has figured out in a short time to focus on what he can control. He can control getting open, finding separation and catching the ball when it's thrown his way, he explained. Harrison is averaging 2.79 yards of separation this season, which ranks 79th among receivers with at least 20 catches. However, he's ranked fifth in the league with five catches in tight windows, which is when a defender is less than a yard away when the ball arrives, according to ESPN Research. Whoever is throwing Harrison the ball is confident he'll make a play. He's ranked 15th in tight-window target percentage and 16th in tight-window receiving percentage.

"I can't control some things, and that part is frustrating because you want the ball and you see the other guys and [it's] just a natural comparison," he said.

The one player he sees as a natural comparison is the Cincinnati Bengals' Ja'Marr Chase because Chase, like Harrison Jr., was a top-five pick in 2021. That might be where the comparisons stop because of their respective situations.

They're in different systems, in different offenses with different styles of quarterbacks. Joe Burrow was an MVP finalist last year. It led to Chase having the fourth-highest percentage of targets per route run, according to ESPN Research. Harrison Jr. is ranked 120th.

That's not something Harrison Jr. can change on his own, but if he looks at his dad's career, he knows he can take a lesson from how his dad approached targets -- albeit a tad differently.

Harrison Sr. said he'd go in on a Monday morning after contributing 100 yards and two touchdowns and still complain to former Colts general manager Bill Polian and Manning that he wanted more.

"That's how I am and that's how my mentality is," Harrison Sr. said. "That's why I am who I am. That doesn't point the finger at no one.

"That's the attitude you have to have in this league."

It's one that Harrison Jr. is trying to adopt while being acutely aware that his personality is light-years from his father's.

"Man, he's like a church mouse," Harrison Sr. said of his son.

Harrison Jr. never had to demand the ball in high school or college, so doing it in the NFL would be a detour from who he is on a daily basis.

Cardinals wide receivers coach Drew Terrell said Harrison Jr., who isn't shy about calling himself quiet and reserved, isn't one to seek out confrontation or disagreement. He doesn't want to ruffle any feathers.

But Terrell is "absolutely" good with Harrison Jr. demanding the ball.

"You should be almost delusional in that you think you're open all the time when you're probably not, but 'I don't care, throw me that s--- anyway,'" Terrell said. "Wideouts should all have that type of confidence.

"So, yeah, I got no issues if he's pissed off about not getting the ball during the game."

It would be easier if that trait had been inherited from his father, but Harrison Jr. said he's working at being more assertive.

"I am not the first to say it, but [Harrison Sr.] demanded the ball a lot more than maybe I would have demanded the ball," Harrison Jr. said. "I'm getting there. I think I'm trying to get there. Just how I go about it is a little different than he did.

"I'm in a different territory now. I don't even know how to go about it, but I'm trying to figure it out and obviously just still do my part and do my job to the best of my abilities. But yeah, it's tough."