Agent: Colts agree to release Harrison

Agent: Colts agree to release Harrison
February 24
Indianapolis Star

"Marvin Harrison's 13-year tenure with the Indianapolis Colts will end as anticipated with his release -- unless Jim Irsay can engineer a last-minute agreement.

The Colts owner insisted late Monday that Tom Condon, Harrison's agent, was "premature" when he said the Colts had agreed to release the veteran receiver. Condon told the Associated Press that the team had agreed to the move after Harrison declined to restructure his contract.

"Marvin and I are talking (today) at mid-afternoon and we'll see where we go from there," Irsay said. "I'm not going to start talking like he's not here, because nothing's been determined officially by any stretch."

Asked if it still was possible for Harrison to remain with the Colts, Irsay replied, "Definitely."

"This is a very, very unusual situation. . . . Marvin goes back with me to 1996 when I started to assume ownership," he said. "Obviously there have been conversations between Bill (Polian, team president) and Condon, but Marvin and I are going to talk it through and see where it goes.

"It's a special circumstance. It's a player and an owner, two partners who have been together for a long, long time. We're going to talk through everything and be certain that the direction we go is the right one for both of us."

Earlier, Condon told the AP he and the Colts "were not able to come to any kind of agreement. It was not contentious and the Colts have agreed to release him."

Repeated attempts by The Star to reach Condon were unsuccessful. Polian, when reached by The Star on Monday night at his office at the team complex, refused to respond to Condon's comments.

However, Polian told ESPN.com: "There was no hardball with this, just heartache."

Harrison ranks second in NFL history with 1,102 receptions, fourth with 14,580 receiving yards and fifth with 128 receiving touchdowns. He's an eight-time Pro Bowl selection and a likely Pro Football Hall of Fame addition after his career ends.

"He's an amazing guy," Colts receivers coach Clyde Christensen said last week. "He was still hummin' pretty darned good (in 2008), hummin' better than the perception probably was.

"I didn't see a huge drop-off skills-wise.""
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