Tough Day

At least on the football field, Percy Harvin quickly became one of my favorite players on the Minnesota Vikings. He was a unique football player at the University of Florida. He was considered to be a receiver but he was really an offensive difference-maker. Some receivers line up in the backfield as a gimmick. Harvin was a legitimate runner back there. Many talented football players have stretched the field the length of the the field. Percy Harvin can stretch the field every way imaginable. Run, catch, return, he can score in so many ways. He was considered small but he really in't. Often listed at 5'11" and 185 lbs, he was always a rock. His explosion was extraordinary in a sport filled with explosive athletes. When his college days were done, I hoped that he'd be a professional in Minnesota. I got lucky. Weed before the combine and an ankle that was thought to be career threatening kept him from being the top-10 pick that his natural talent screamed. The Vikings got him at #22 of the 2009 NFL Draft. A beautiful offensive future of Adrian Peterson, Sidney Rice, Bernard Berrian, Visanthe Shiancoe, and Percy Harvin was about to explode in Minnesota. Suddenly, Brett Favre was a part of it too. I'll always remember the video clip of a shocked Harvin meeting the newly signed Favre in a Vikings facility hallway. One was winding down the other was about to take off. Harvin caught a touchdown pass from Favre in his first NFL game. He caught a few more. That 2009 Vikings season was a beautiful thing outside of a certain conference championship game. 2010 was supposed to better. It wasn't.

Percy Harvin was such a perfect pairing with Adrian Peterson. These are two players that put the hurt on defenders. At under 220 lbs, Peterson isn't a huge back. He hits like one. Harvin is a little bull. They rocked defenders. There are football players that simply aren't fun to tackle. It doesn't matter their size. Peterson and Harvin. Such a perfect pairing. If the Vikings could find a younger quarterback that could do to a defense what Favre could do to a defense, this offense would explode for more than just one season. It didn't happen

Off the field, Percy Harvin apparently had problems in Minnesota. Most speculate that his issues were with the young quarterback that was drafted to eventually do what Favre did in 2009, Christian Ponder. I can't speak to how Harvin actually felt about the quarterback Ponder. No one really can, but Harvin. I can speak to how I view Harvin as a football player. I see a football player that puts everything on the football field. Every single thing. Before the ankle injury that ended his 2012 season, Harvin was catching passes at a remarkable rate. He was on a pace to catch well over 100 passes. If anything, Ponder depended on Harvin more than any quarterback in the league depended on a receiver. The quarterback calls the play that's called. I've always felt that Harvin's problems in Minnesota had more to do with how he used on the football field than with that quarterback that was taking the snap from center. He wanted every kickoff. He wanted every pass. He wanted the ball. Special teams coordinator Mike Priefer probably wanted Harvin on ever return. Priefer didn't make that call. Head Coach Leslie Frazier wanted his dynamic offensive player on offense as much as he could. . Harvin wanted every offensive snap. He probably wanted to play defense. Great football players want to be on the football field. I doubt that Peterson wants to come off the field on third down. Harvin played in the built up wake of Tim Tebow at Florida. He didn't seem to care about being "the man." He cared mostly about being part of the Florida team. He wanted to be on the football field. For whatever reason, Harvin was often seen on the sideline when the Vikings were in the red zone. Great football players don't want to come off the field. Ever. Harvin was like that. As a big fan of Harvin on the Vikings, I wanted him on the football field as much as possible. Peterson and Harvin on the offensive side of the ball? Fergetaboutit!

Percy Harvin wasn't happy in Minnesota. It's a business to those that are involved in the business but football is something else to those of us that watch and dream. I hate that that Percy Harvin is no longer on the team that drafted him. He's with the Seattle Seahawks. It's hard to stomach. Vikings-west now has former Vikings receiver Sidney Rice, linebacker Heath Farwell, quarterback Tarvaris Jackson, and offensive coordinater Darrell Bevell. There couldn't be a worse team for Percy Harvin to now call home. There's always been a twisted relationship between the Vikings and Seahawks. Different people now but I don't think that they've recovered from the dumbass trade that brought Ahmad Rashad to Minnesota in 1976. They returned to that level of stupidity when they failed to properly sign guard Steve Hutchinson in 2006. Vikings got him. Seahawks lost him. Maybe the thirty-year anniversary of the Rashad trade brought on a blackout. Maybe it was the soon to be USC-trouble-dodging head coach Pete Carroll. Only Detroit Lions coach Jim Schwartz is more annoying to watch on the sidelines. I'd rather see a coach that is pissed than one that has lost a kidney. The reason doesn't really matter. I don't like seeing Harvin on a team other than the Vikings.

Tomorrow is expected to be Percy Harvin's debut as a football player for the Seattle Seahawks. It's going to be a tough day. The last time he played in an NFL game was in the very same stadium. Harvin was with the Vikings when he injured his ankle against the Seahawks. Now, he's with the Seahawks. And, he's playing against the Vikings. What was once Favre, Peterson, and Harvin is now Wilson, Lynch, and Harvin. I prefer the former.