Percy Harvin Says He Has No Hard Feelings Towards Ponder
When discussing the possible reasons for Percy Harvin’s departure from Minnesota this offseason there is a grab bag full of options to choose from. One speculative reason that kept coming up, and was fueled in part by Harvin’s unwillingness to deny it, was that he had no faith in Minnesota quarterback Christian Ponder to take the Vikings to the next level.
This week, however, Harvin was asked directly about Ponder on Jim Rome’s radio show and he made sure to say all of the right things.
“That was false,” Harvin said of the speculation. “Me and Christian had a great time together. I respect him a whole heck of a lot.”
“I never had a problem with (Ponder),” he continued. “I’ve never stated I had a problem with him. I’ve never seen a problem he has had with me. He has never said he’s had a problem with me. (Ponder and Harvin were) on the same page, it’s just a lot of articles that tried to pick up on things that weren’t there.”
Harvin may have never publicly slammed Ponder, but he had many opportunities to endorse his quarterback since the end of the 2012 season, and never did. There was also the March 11th article from Yahoo! Sports reporter Jason Cole that said Harvin had “bemoaned” that his quarterback was “not good enough.” In the nearly three months since that article was posted, Harvin did not deny that those feelings existed, either.
In the end, Vikings fans are moving on from Harvin and are excited about the team’s three first round picks, and they have little choice than to go into 2013 hoping Ponder can up his game in a meaningful way. Other than some added drama to Minnesota’s November 17th trip to seattle, Harvin’s thoughts on the matter are now irrelevant.