Robert Mathis to announce Colts’ second round pick in 2017 NFL Draft

Yesterday, Colts owner Jim Irsay took to Twitter to announce that former Colts greats Robert Mathis and Marvin Harrison will be involved with the team’s draft picks this year in the NFL Draft.

Marvin Harrison will be at the Colts’ table at the Draft in Philadelphia for the first round, so he presumably will have some sort of role in getting the card ready and in the hands of NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. Then in the second round, Robert Mathis will announce the team’s pick.

This continues a very cool tradition in recent years in which the NFL allows former players of a franchise to announce their second round pick. For the Colts, Tarik Glenn (2013), Marvin Harrison (2014), Bill Brooks (2015), Marshall Faulk (2016), and Reggie Wayne (2016) have all gotten to announce picks, and now Robert Mathis will join that group of Colts greats.

Mathis spent 14 years with the Colts, playing in 192 games and starting 121 of them, recording 527 tackles, 123 sacks, 52 forced fumbles, 15 passes defensed, and an interception. He just retired earlier this year following the conclusion of the Colts’ 2016 season, and he retired as the franchise’s all-time leader in sacks and as the NFL’s all-time leader in strip-sacks. He made six Pro Bowls, was a first-team All-Pro in 2013, and will undoubtedly join the Colts’ Ring of Honor at some point down the road.

This year, Mathis will have the honor of actually announcing the Colts’ second round pick, but Marvin Harrison will be involved with the process too in the first round. That makes a lot of sense, as the NFL Draft this year will be held in Philadelphia, where Harrison lives.

There will be enough for Colts fans to be excited about in the draft as it is, since the Colts will have the 15th overall pick and six picks in the first four rounds, plus the fact that it’s Chris Ballard’s first draft with the franchise. But if that wasn’t enough, the chance to see Harrison and Mathis involved is certainly exciting as well.