Reflecting on the electric Percy Harvin

By: Jake Rajala

In 2009, it seemed like Percy Harvin arrived on the NFL field as a Minnesota Viking with more rage than the Wolverine against Stryker. The former Florida Gator registered 790 receiving yards, six receiving touchdowns, 135 rushing yards, and two KR touchdowns as a rook. His well-rounded efforts in his rookie campaign led him to garner Offensive Rookie of The Year honors.

Harvin was a major weapon with the Vikings in 2010, but he noticeably had a mystical 2011 season. In the year that Charlie Sheen was fired from Two and a Half Men (2011), the versatile Harvin unleashed 87 catches, 967 receiving yards, six receiving TDs, 345 rushing yards, and a kick return TD.

It would be an understatement to say Harvin was efficient with his squad from the Twin Cities in the year that world didn’t end, 2012. In 2012 – Harvin unveiled 677 receiving yards and unsurprisingly a return TD in nine contests. Unfortunately, his injury habits ruined his 2012 campaign.

The former Vikings RB/WR/KR was then transported to the Seattle Seahawks on March 12th of 2013.

The magic of Harvin didn’t surface in the 2013 regular season, but he was healthy & playing with a vengeance in the Super Bowl in Feb. of 2014. In Super Bowl XLVII, Harvin dazzled with an 87-yard kick-return TD. It was clear that the team with the Legion of Boom was dominating in every phase of the showdown.

Harvin began the 2014 season with the Hawks, but he was then shipped to the Big Apple to play under Rex Ryan in mid-October. Between his former NFC West squad and his new AFC East team in 2014, he was a modest skill player (685 total yds in 13 games).

The Jets moved on from Harvin’s services after the 2014 season — due to him underperforming & owed $10.5 million dollars.

Yet, it shouldn’t have seemed like the world was coming to an end for Harvin after 2014. He was bound to hit 27 years old shortly after being cut by NY, so it would seem probable that he could be an effective swiss army knife with the right team for a few more seasons.

Harvin brought his Super Bowl dust to another AFC East team, Buffalo Bills (who also had Rex Ryan as the ring leader), in the 2015 off-season. The story of Percy Harvin with the Bills Mafia was that Harvin had hip issues. Furthermore, He even missed the entire 2015 pre-season due to hip injuries and he only played in five games due to his worn-out hip. He only mustered out 218 receiving yds and 31 rushing yds. I believe the combination of situation, injuries, and age caught up to Harvin. He officially retired after the 2015 season — as it was clear that his heart and body were no longer interested in competing between the white lines.

Harvin officially un-retired to join the Bills in November of 2016, but he only caught one pass, recorded one rushing attempt, and had five kick returns in the regular season.