It was a reunion of sorts for a few Indianapolis Colts greats at the team’s joint practices against the Arizona Cardinals this week.
With rookie Marvin Harrison Jr. on the Cardinals, his father Marvin Sr. attended, along with running back Edgerrin James, who also played for the Cardinals.
On the Colts staff is receivers coach Reggie Wayne, who played in Indianapolis and was a teammate with James at the University of Miami.
Marvin Sr. and James are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, while Wayne has been a finalist for the last five years.
At one point near the end of Wednesday’s practice, Marvin Sr. threw autographed mini-footballs into the stands.
A very young Marvin Jr. was around his dad a lot during his playing career and Marvin Sr. (6-0, 191) said, “A lot of people are surprised how big (6-3, 209) he got.”
James was elusive in his praise for Marvin Jr.
He said, “Man, it’s crazy. They took Marv Jr. with the fourth pick and I was the fourth pick (in 1999). We used to be on the plane together. You look at this little kid that’s quiet, but he had the chance to just watch how it’s supposed to be done.
“Everything you hear that he’s been doing is exactly like it’s supposed to be done. Quiet, but just works and always is looking for more work. That’s the thing you appreciate. When you get somebody like that, you only know one way, one speed and you go out and do what you’re supposed to do. That’s pretty cool.”
Meanwhile, James made sure to tell reporters about his son Jizzle, who will be a 6-1, 195-pound sophomore for the University of Cincinnati basketball team next season. The point guard averaged 8.8 points and 2.1 assists per game as a freshman, but in the final five games averaged 16 points per game, hitting 48.6 percent of his shots.
Dad said to expect this to be his son’s final season in college.
“Jizzle’s going to go first round this year,” Edgerrin claimed. “He’s going to have a great year and he’s going to go in the draft. Then it’ll be like, ‘Whew, all that work (was worth it).’”
But, what about that nickname for a young man whose given name is Edgerrin James Jr.?
“Jizzle is like my on-court persona,” he told wcpo.com last February.
Edgerrin said, “Oh Jizzle?! I was creating a monster with that name right there. We had to create something special. We had my same name. I always tell him that’s his alter ego; when he turns into Jizzle he turns into a whole other person.”
His son said, “Being Jizzle is just being like on the court just playing hard expressing myself. I got the same name as my dad so he tried to; he gave me a name who I could be myself. So I use that and just use it just to play with an extra edge on the court.
“I always had that (toughness from playing youth football). Like, not scared of contacting me and I used it to my advantage. So like it helped me out, help me out big time on the court.”
Concluded Edgerrin, “I’ve always wanted to be a basketball player, so I’m like reliving it through him. Just get to see him courtside is crazy. It’s all a blessing.”
Who knows? Perhaps Jizzle will be with the Phoenix Suns one day.
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