Posts tagged: percy harvin

HARVIN: “I’m Not Happy”

June 19, 2012, by 4 comments

The good news:  Percy Harvin has reported to minicamp.

The bad news:  He doesn’t plan on practicing much.

The worse news:  He has hinted that a holdout could be in the near future.

According to multiple reports (transcript here), Harvin is unhappy with a number of different issues and insists that those issues need to be resolved prior to training camp.  He did not go into specifics, but it is understandably assumed by media types that Harvin’s main issue surrounds his contract status.

Harvin is set to make $915,000 this year and $1.55 million in 2013, his final year from the rookie deal he signed.  The money obviously does not match up with his on-field importance, as is often the case in situations where a rookie performs at a high level.

“I’ll just put it this way — it’s a lot of different things that have to be sorted out,” Harvin said. “Just haven’t been real happy lately. So, we’ve got a couple things to work on. I’m here in the classroom, so we’ll go from here.”

Leslie Frazier made some comments that pretty much just sidestepped the issue all together and he just said he was glad to have Harvin at the minicamp, and that he expects all of his players to report to minicamp.

I can understand the motivation for Harvin, who has had his fair share of health problems, to want to cash in on his success thus far in the NFL.  I can also see why the front office might be hesitant to invest a ton of money into an injury-prone receiver, especially when they can retain his rights for another two years or possibly even three.

Assuming that the issues really are contract related (key word: assuming), then I don’t really see how Harvin will win this battle if he decides to take the holdout route.  The Vikings are likely not going to have many qualms about getting their young receivers extra reps during practice periods (remember, Jarius Wright is thought to be capable of playing a similar role as Harvin), and Harvin will almost certainly have to report if the Vikings start docking his pay in the event of a lengthy holdout.

I see this less as something that is an issue right now and more of a preview of things to come… next offseason.

But, who knows, maybe this turns really ugly really fast.

I hope not.

Some Wide Receiver News On Tuesday

June 5, 2012, by 8 comments

In filling their last remaining roster spot, the Vikings signed South Florida receiver A.J. Love as an undrafted free agent on Tuesday.

This isn’t really anything earth shattering, but I can remember in the flurry of UDFA signings right after the Draft finished it was reported by numerous outlets at that time that Love was signing with the Vikings.  At the end of the day those reports were erroneous, but in the long run I guess they turned out to be correct.

Love stands at 6’ 2” and weighs 208 pounds.  In 2008 and 2009, combined, he managed 56 catches for 843 yards and six scores.  In 2010, he had to sit out due to a knee injury, and his production lacked big time in 2011 where he only had nine grabs for 122 yards and a lone touchdown.

The story sounds similar to that of Greg Childs, which we discussed here, and Love could end up having some upside.  Childs, coincidentally enough, has not been participating in OTA practices due to a calf strain.

Some good news, however, is that Percy Harvin has rejoined the team during practices after initially sitting out and rehabbing as a result of his bone spur procedure from April.  Chad Greenway has also reportedly joined the team after dealing with a family issue.

Peterson Starts Cutting At Winter Park

April 27, 2012, by 2 comments

Despite all of the Draft excitement and stadium drama, we would be remiss if we neglected to update you on of this offseason’s other most important storylines.

On Tuesday, Leslie Frazier gave us an update on the progress of Adrian Peterson following his December 30th knee surgery.

“He’s doing great. He’s been here throughout this week and had a chance to run with our players on Tuesday,” Frazier said of Peterson. “He was off to the side working with our trainer, Eric Sugarman, and he looked out and saw the guys doing their wind sprints and he said, ‘You know, I don’t think they’re running hard enough.’ Eric allowed him to go out and run with them and he passed them four different times. He finished in first four different times. I remember Joe Webb saying, ‘I can’t believe it. I just can’t believe it.’ He’s doing great and we’re optimistic that he’s going to be ready for that first game. I know that’s his goal and we’ll just see how he continues to progress, but he’s doing great.”

“He’s begun some cutting, but that’s the next step. He has to get to the point where he’s comfortable cutting. Straight ahead he’s doing great,” Frazier said. “Now he has to get to the point where he’s comfortable with being able to go left to right or right to left and stopping and starting. One step at a time. Right now it’s cutting.”

In addition to the Peterson update, Frazier also pointed out that Percy Harvin’s shoulder surgery went well and that Harvin is at home recovering.  Harvin is almost certain to be ready to go for OTA’s.

Frazier also expressed excitement about the team’s attendance at their offseason conditioning program.  Three players are missing, one of which is Jared Allen, but it sounds like there is nothing to be concerned about there.

Harvin Schedules Surgery

April 20, 2012, by 1 comment

When wide receiver Percy Harvin postponed his shoulder surgery on April 10th, my partner-in-crime couldn’t help but wonder if were headed for another Sidney Rice type of situation.

Barring the unforeseen, this minor surgery should not present any problems.

Harvin announced on his Twitter account that his surgery has been rescheduled for April 24th.  The recovery period for this is expected to be three weeks, which puts him back on the field prior to OTA’s which begin on May 29th.

Should We Be Concerned About Harvin?

April 17, 2012, by 16 comments

Jeremy Fowler of the Pioneer Press reported this morning that Percy Harvin has yet to reschedule the surgery he was originally supposed to have last week. Fowler then went on to say, “However, Vikings feel there’s still time for Harvin to undergo surgery to remove bone spurs and return in time for workouts in late May.”

Should there be any reason for concern?

Personally, I have a bad feeling about the whole thing. As soon as I heard Percy was going to be having surgery this offseason, regardless of how minor, I knew it could turn into a bigger issue than originally estimated. Now, we’re finding out that what was supposed to be a simple procedure with a quick recovery time isn’t even currently on his schedule. And, on top of all that, there is also the timing of the Florida story which Harvin found himself a focal point of. (It should also be noted that, while ex-Florida coaches have come to the defense of Harvin, Vikings coaches have yet to do so.)

At this point, there really isn’t anything to suggest that Harvin will miss offseason training or any actual games. But with Harvin’s injury riddle-past and tendency to miss offseason training and playing time, I can’t help but be a little nervous. A healthy Percy Harvin is incredibly important to the success of the 2012 season. He is a weapon we can’t afford to have miss playing time. In a season that is all about the development of Christian Ponder and gauging what his future is with the Vikings, he needs to have all the targets he can.

We’ll be monitoring this story throughout the offseason and will make sure to keep you all updated with the latest findings. In the meantime, though, what do you all think? Are you nervous? Is there nothing to worry about here? Let us know in the comments.

Harvin’s Past Is Again Under Scrutiny

April 9, 2012, by 6 comments

I remember giving the selection of Percy Harvin in the first round of the 2009 NFL Draft a “C” grade due mostly to the character concerns following him out of Florida.

After three seasons of breath-taking plays, Harvin’s character concerns have never reared their ugly in any big way, and he has actually grown into a sort of leadership role on the offense.

Now, however, stories about Urban Meyer’s mismanagement of the Florida program are now uncovering new details of Harvin’s checkered past.  According to the reports from Sporting News, Harvin “epitomized the climate” created by Meyer that entitled certain players and led to practices that placed stars like Harvin into a special category, allegedly allowing them to get away with things they should not have.

In 2008, Meyer told the press that Harvin and two other players missed four games due to injury.  In reality, it appears that Harvin missed those games as a result of a failed drug test and the University required the four game suspension but Meyer made sure to cover for his players.  Harvin also reportedly failed a drug test at the NFL Scouting Combine prior to the Vikings drafting him.

The report continues to recall a story where Harvin grew tired of doing stadium runs and decided to just stop.  When told to keep moving he exclaimed, “This (bad word) end now.”  The following day conditioning did not include stadium runs, and instead the players played basketball.

The most troubling story is the one that tells of Harvin assaulting wide receivers coach Billy Gonzales by throwing him to the ground and putting his hands around his neck.  Meyers never let the truth about that incident become public, saying only that “something did happen,” and Gonzales himself claims that the incident was blown out of proportion.

Harvin, in November of 2010, reportedly got into a verbal altercation with Brad Childress that nearly turned physical but stopped just short.

Harvin has not yet commented on the article by Sporting News and with his surgery scheduled for Tuesday, it is unlikely he will grant media access any time real soon.

At the end of this latest season, Harvin won the Korey Stringer Good Guy Award for his professionalism in dealing with the media.  Outside of the Childress incident and some mild pouting about the sudden release of teammate Randy Moss, Harvin seems to have his life under control and appears to be the exact type of player the Vikings were hoping to get when they selected him.

In fact, if it wasn’t for recent scandals following Urban Meyer around, Harvin’s character concerns would still be just a thing of the past.

Ranking The Vikings Draft Needs

April 9, 2012, by 4 comments

I am a big fan of drafting best player available, regardless of need, and building your team around solid, young players instead of reaching to fill a void.  After all, there is nothing wrong with having good depth at a position and/or getting better at something you are already good at.

Still, teams have needs and the Minnesota Vikings are quite obviously no exception. 

With that, I present you with my rankings of how the Vikings needs stack up going into this year’s Draft:

1.      Safety

There is perhaps no positional group on any team in the NFL that needs upgrading more than the Vikings need to upgrade their safeties.  Heck, at this point I would say the Vikings have a greater need at safety than the Dolphins do at quarterback.  The thought of Jamarca Sanford and Mistral Raymond being starters instead of depth players, especially in our division, should worry even the most enthusiastic optimists.

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