Marvin Harrison Jr.'s ever-growing list of accolades just added another line.
On Thursday, the star Ohio State pass-catcher received the Chicago Tribune Silver Football, an award presented annually to the best football player in the Big Ten. Harrison becomes the first Buckeye wide receiver ever to take home the trophy and the 23rd Ohio State player overall to win it, with the most recent being Justin Fields in 2020.
It's an additional bit of good news for Harrison after he completed the gauntlet to be named a unanimous first-team All-American for the second year in a row – becoming just the fifth Buckeye to do so – on Thursday.
Harrison received exactly half of the first-place votes cast by the Big Ten’s 14 coaches around the league. Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy and Illinois defensive tackle Johnny Newton each received two first-place votes while Michigan running back Blake Corum, Maryland quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa and Iowa punter Tory Taylor each received one. Harrison also received five second-place votes for a total of 19 voting points; McCarthy finished second in voting with two first-place votes and three second-place votes for a total of seven points.
Those achievements add to a season in which Harrison won the Biletnikoff Award as the best pass catcher in college football, was named a Heisman finalist and took home Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year honors.
Harrison caught 67 passes for 1,211 yards and 14 touchdowns in the 2023 regular season, surpassing 100 yards in eight of Ohio State's 12 games. With a 1,263-yard campaign in 2022, he's the first Buckeye ever to post multiple 1,000-yard receiving seasons.
Harrison also holds the record for the most 100-yard receiving games in Buckeye history and is the only player to haul in three touchdown receptions in three separate contests.
Past Ohio State Silver Football winners include:
- 2020 – QB Justin Fields
- 2019 – DE Chase Young
- 2018 – QB Dwayne Haskins
- 2016 – QB J.T. Barrett
- 2015 – RB Ezekiel Elliott
- 2013 – QB Braxton Miller
- 2012 – QB Braxton Miller
- 2006 – QB Troy Smith
- 1998 – QB Joe Germaine
- 1996 – OT Orlando Pace
- 1995 – RB Eddie George
- 1984 – RB Keith Byars
- 1981 – QB Art Schlichter
- 1975 – QB Cornelius Greene
- 1974 – RB Archie Griffin
- 1975 – RB Archie Griffin
- 1955 – HB Howard Cassady
- 1950 – HB Vic Janowicz
- 1945 – FB Ollie Cline
- 1944 – HB Les Horvath
- 1941 – FB Jack Graf
- 1930 – E Wes Fesler
Harrison becomes just the fifth wide receiver to win the award, joining Michigan’s Anthony Carter (1981), Desmond Howard (1991) and Braylon Edwards (2004) and Northwestern’s Lee Gissendaner (1992).
