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Marvin Harrison Jr. took an unorthodox approach to the pre-draft process, skipping workouts at the scouting combine and Ohio State Pro Day to “prepare for the NFL season” instead. Even after the draft, the No. 4 overall pick is paving his own path off the field as well.
Harrison still has yet to sign a preliminary licensing agreement with the NFL Players Association, which is standard practice for anticipated draftees. Such an agreement would allow Harrison’s name and likeness to be monetized, but he has yet to sign.
It’s possible Harrison will never sign an official NFLPA licensing deal, according to NBC Sports.
“He might retain his full rights, without joining the herd,” speculates Mike Florio. “Maybe he’ll design and sell his own jersey. Maybe he’ll do his own deal with EA (Sports) to appear in the ‘Madden’ game. Players must join the union. They are not required to join the group licensing portion of it. They retain their full NIL (name/image/likeness) rights. For a new age of college players who profited significantly from NIL deals, why sign anything away to anyone else?”
However, while Harrison still does not have an NFLPA deal, ESPN reported earlier this month that he does have a memorabilia agreement with Fanatics. And on Saturday, ESPN further reported that Fanatics filed a lawsuit against Harrison, claiming breach of contract, claiming it has an agreement worth more than $1 million with the star wideout dating back to last May. Harrison, for his part, denies this existence of an agreement, per ESPN’s reporting.
What does this mean for the Buckeyes product, and/or his fans? For one, there are still no Marvin Harrison Jr. jerseys immediately available for purchase, as the NFLPA licenses players’ names for official apparel, and he still cannot be featured in any NFL-licensed video games, such as the next edition of the “Madden” franchise.