5 comments Gregg Doyel Loses Faith in Marvin Harrison; Also Disappointed Parents Lied to Him About Santa Claus

I apologize for the smaller posts lately, though it is probably a nice change from the encyclopedias I usually write, I prefer to make one post a day because I have extreme OCD.

Gregg Doyel is disappointed in Marvin Harrison. Hence he is disappointed in the media's previous portrayal of Marvin Harrison as a nice, shy person and is sad it is not true. Basically they painted him as being an introvert and kind of weird but now are turning against him for being that way.

By the way, the picture of Gregg Doyel makes him look like a sexual deviant.

Betrayal

Here lies the Benefit of the Doubt for Marvin Harrison.

It expired on Nov. 9, 2008. The official time of death is difficult to determine, because Harrison killed off any final shred of our goodwill -- my goodwill, anyway -- in two different moments Sunday at Pittsburgh, where the Colts won 24-20 in spite of him.

I like how the goodwill did not expire when a gun he owned shot a man and Harrison never came out and defended himself in any fashion. At least that I heard. Not that Harrison has to defend himself but dropping a couple passes in a game seems kind of pointless to make the turning point compared to attempted murder.

There were more than 1,000 pounds of muscular Steelers trying to bash in his head when he put the ball within 2 feet of Harrison, nearly 40 yards down the field.

Harrison couldn't be bothered to catch it.

The pass wasn't perfect, but the effort was nonexistent. Harrison simply didn't try. The ball was about one-half stride ahead of him, coming in at knee level, and Harrison's reaction wasn't to dive or slide or even bend at the waist and reach with both hands. No, his reaction was to stick out a single hand.

If I am not wrong, and I am not, Marvin Harrison missed the entire preseason with an injury. There was also rumors that Harrison's football career would be over and he would never play again, that the knee injury (I believe that is what it was) was so severe his career was in jeopardy. Maybe that is the reason he can't dive all over the place for the ball, regardless of how close it is to him.

He is 36 years old. Other than that one juggling catch against the Patriots you see on highlight reels, when have you ever seen Marvin Harrison dive for a ball? Granted, Peyton Manning is his quarterback, so it is often not necessary to dive, but you rarely see Harrison dive so combining these factors I am not surprised. Gregg is.

The second moment came in the third quarter. Unlike the first moment, described earlier, Harrison didn't look indifferent. No, this time he looked scared.

Football players have a right to be scared. They get hit hard sometimes and it probably hurts. If I were you, leaning back in my La-Z-Boy on Sunday criticizing world class athletes, I would also think whether I would be scared at having to make some catches wide receivers have to make.

It was third-and-3 from the Steelers' 18. Harrison, heading for the end zone's right pylon, got behind cornerback William Gay. Manning delivered a perfect pass at the goal line. Harrison actually made an attempt this time, leaving his feet and going low for the catch, but at that moment Steelers safety Tyrone Carter was arriving. Harrison abandoned his pursuit of the ball, letting it drop, and went into self-preservation mode.

Maybe if I was a Colts fan I would be pissed at this. Clearly Marvin Harrison has given up on getting balls thrown to him that are difficult to get. He is 36 years old, saw Anquan Boldin get hit a few weeks ago and needing to be carted off the field, and does not feel like having the same happen to him.

It makes him scared, not a fraud.

Harrison stayed down. Team officials walked him off the field, then announced he had a mild concussion and said his return was questionable.

On the first play of the Colts' very next possession, Harrison was on the field.

Apparently he decided to gut the concussion out and continue to play. What a fraud! He should sit on the bench and act like he is injured. That would make him a hero!

Once upon a time, Marvin Harrison was the peculiarly shy, introverted receiver who worked hard and put up great numbers. He was a star, and more. He was a role model. We didn't know much about him, but he had earned the benefit of the doubt.

This was completely the media's portrayal of him. Nobody really knew if he was a role model because no one actually knew him. The media wanted him to be a role model for stories around Super Bowl time when the Colts played the Bears, so they just based the fact he had not gotten arrested at that point and seemed to stay out of trouble as an example of him being a role model. Marvin Harrison is still a star, he is just old, and not as capable as he once used to be.

His gun was allegedly used to shoot a man Harrison had been fighting with weeks earlier. The victim has accused Harrison of pulling the trigger, and has even filed a civil law suit.

So basically Gregg Doyel is calling Marvin Harrison a fraud for not correcting the media's portrayal of him as a wonderful and shy person. This is not fraud, clearly Harrison did not give a shit what the media thought of him.

The key point is that no one knew ANYTHING about Marvin Harrison, even his teammates, so calling him a fraud is fraudulent in itself.

but in light of the events in Philadelphia, Harrison seems less shy, and possibly something more sinister.

So now the shy, introvert who just wants to play in football games and not get publicity is a sinister man who lurks in the shadows looking to shoot people for no good reason. Hopefully he does not have to chase anyone while he is lurking around threateningly, because his knee is shot and he can't run fast anymore.

Marvin Harrison could be a horrible human being but you can't call him a fraud because all of the stories that were done on him in the past painted him in a favorable light, and now you find out something negative about him. This is the problem with the media making up storylines. They make up a storyline out of the blue to fit some story.

I see Harrison -- who is having his worst season as a pro -- sitting by himself, 30 yards away. I watch this happen last week at home against the Patriots, and again Sunday at Pittsburgh, and I wonder if Harrison has more in common with Terrell Owens than we'd suspected.

I don't trust shy people, so I would not trust Marvin Harrison at first meeting. He is 36 years old and has always sat alone, there is no news to report here, just a different angle that needs to be made up. Gregg Doyel is happy to oblige.

But that's not fair to Terrell Owens, because T.O. would have done his damndest to make that catch in the second quarter on Sunday, and he wouldn't have been spooked into alligator-arming that drop in the end zone in the third quarter.

Really? There are 38,900 hits when you type "Terrell Owens alligator arms" into Google. Most of the first 3 pages of hits detail people complaining about Terrell Owens having alligator arms with balls over the middle of the field. May not be true, but others seem to disagree with Gregg "my picture makes me look like a sexual deviant" Doyel.

Marvin Harrison? We don't know Marvin Harrison. Or at least, we didn't know him a few years ago. Maybe we're starting to know him now.

I liked him better when I didn't know him at all.

That's fine if you don't like him. Just don't blame him for a misconception the media caused and perpetuated that he was just a shy, normal person.