Stumbled across this incredible profile of former Colts star receiver Marvin Harrison and the shooting that took place outside his Philadelphia car wash in April 2008. By all accounts a humble, hard-working guy with Hall of Fame numbers, Jason Fagone of GQ tries to unpack the mystery of a man that is Harrison and the incident that may prove yet to be his legacy. Below is an excerpt
Whatever the alibi, Harrison was under no obligation even to provide one; he wasn't under arrest.
But then—and even the cops couldn't figure out why—Harrison answered questions at the Central Detectives Division for about an hour, accompanied by his lawyer, Jerome Brown, and his stepfather. When it was over, he signed each page of a typed seven-page statement: a single M for "Marvin," its points like the peak of a crown.
In the statement, excerpted here for the first time, Harrison admits that his fight with Pop took place "five to ten minutes before" the shooting. He says that immediately before he heard the gunshots, he was "sitting in the doorway of my garage." The detectives ask him if Pop had a gun that day. Harrison says "no." In his own words, then, Harrison establishes his motive, puts himself at the scene of the crime, and eliminates any possible self-defense defense.
The real doozy, though, is that Harrison admits to continuous and unbroken custody of the gun.
q. When was the last time you or anyone else fired your FN 5.7-caliber handgun?
a. Probably the day that I bought it.
q. What day was that?
a. In 2006 or 2007.
q. Where do you store this weapon?
a. In a safe at my home in Jenkintown, Pa.
q. Today, you had it at the car wash? Do you know how it got there?
a. I brought it today, twenty minutes before you came.
q. Are you saying that the 5.7-cal handgun that you own was in the safe at your home up until today, when you decided to bring it to your shop in the 2500 blk. of Thompson St.?
a. Yes.That "yes" is the sound of a trap snapping shut. Harrison says his gun hasn't been fired since 2006 or 2007. That's impossible. Fresh casings exist, so the gun had to have been fired. But by whom? Harrison says he doesn't know. All he knows is that the gun couldn't have been lent or stolen, because it was locked away the whole time in his suburban safe. Only it couldn't have been in the safe, either, because it had to have made an appearance at the corner of 25th and Thompson.
Harrison's story makes no sense.
Wow.