09/30/2026
Harold Fannin Jr. came out of Canton McKinley High School as a zero star recruit.
Not underrated. Unranked. He had no major scholarship offers at all.
He was also a defensive back. He had never played a snap at tight end in his life.
One school offered him. The Bowling Green Falcons, and they offered him at a position he did not play.
"If you're good, I wouldn't be focused on being Power 5. If you're good enough, the scouts are gonna come see you."
He caught 19 passes as a freshman.
Then came 2024, and two things happened at the same time.
The first is that he became the best tight end in the history of college football. 117 catches. 1,555 yards. 10 touchdowns. Both the catches and the yards are FBS single season records for the position.
He also became the first tight end ever to lead the entire country in receptions and receiving yards. Not among tight ends. Among every receiver in America.
The second thing is that his sister died.
Haria Wise was diagnosed with leukemia in early 2021. On October 23, 2024, in the middle of that season, she died. She was 20 years old.
So was he.
"She was really special to me because we're so close in age. We grew up together."
"It was unexpected, but every time I talked to my sister, she always just told me how proud she was."
His mother told him what to do.
"I told him, Haria is your biggest supporter, always has been, and she would want you to continue and carry on."
He played the day after her funeral.
He went out against Kent State with In Loving Memory Haria written on the tape on his left wrist. He scored. His mother said it felt like it was his first touchdown ever.
He puts his grandfather Benjamin Smith on that tape too. He died when Harold was in eighth grade.
"It made me realize that life is really short. So I knew I had to give it my all in whatever I was doing."
He finished that season as the first consensus All American in Bowling Green history and the highest graded player in college football.
He went 67th in the draft. Sixty six players heard their names first.
As a rookie he led the Cleveland Browns in receiving and broke their franchise rookie record for catches.
And today, Cleveland got outgained by the Carolina Panthers 362 yards to 259 and did not run for a single touchdown. They scored twice all afternoon, both through the air.
Harold Fannin Jr. caught both of them.
The second came from 14 yards out with under two minutes left, with the Browns losing, and it put them ahead for good.
Browns 21, Panthers 18.
Zero stars. One offer. A position he had never played.
And a name on his wrist.
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