Photo - Alex Goodlett (Getty Images)



By: Aj Mansour | KFAN.com

@AJKFAN

Minneapolis, MN - For four impressive seasons, Percy Harvin wore the purple and gold of the Minnesota Vikings on game day and gave the opponent every little thing that he had. Drafted 22nd overall in the 2009 NFL Draft by the Vikings, Percy entered the league from day one with a chip on his shoulder.

That “chip” pushed him to Offensive rookie of the year honors in 2009, it earned him a spot on the Pro Bowl roster that same season and it deposited millions of dollars in his bank account. That very same “chip” has gotten him shipped out of two franchises and has landed him on the worse of the two downtrodden New York football franchises.

The stories about Harvin are infamous. The free weights he supposedly threw at head coach Brad Childress in the Vikings weight room, the screaming matches with Leslie Frazier in post game meetings and the fist fight with Golden Tate the night before the Super Bowl…all the stories are out there, unconfirmed but generally thought to be true. Still, Percy remains a dangerous threat on the football field, and that is exactly what his former team is preparing for as they get ready to face him this weekend at TCF Bank Stadium.

“We know who he is,” Chad Greenway, Percy’s teammate from 2009-2012 said Wednesday. “You’ve got to know that when you to tackle Percy you’ve got to bring your big boy shoes. He’s as good as anybody at getting off of tackles and making people miss…he can be an angry dude sometimes, gotta love him though.”

Percy’s final season with the Vikings was the most memorable of his career. Armed as a threat in the kicking game, the passing game and the run game, Harvin afforded a team with a struggling quarterback the opportunity to remain dangerous. Much the same as the “chip” he had on his shoulder as a rookie was, this situation was both a blessing and a curse for Percy who was in legitimate conversations for league MVP early in the season before a sideline shouting match with his coach and frustrations brewing over behind the scenes sealed his fate with the Minnesota Vikings who traded him to Seattle for draft picks they would later turn into Xavier Rhodes and Jerick McKinnon.

“Percy was a great teammate,” Greenway insisted. “He never had an issue in the locker room with any of us. A guy that was going to give you anything no matter what…as a teammate that’s all you can really ask for.”

Asked about the rumors of behind the scenes struggles, Greenway said, “There’s a lot of situations that we don’t see as players. It’s hard to speak on that when you’re not there to see it.”

Percy’s behavior over the next few seasons may do all the convincing that is needed on this issue.

After an injury sidelined him for most of the 2013 season in Seattle, Harvin returned to the field in time to earn a Super Bowl ring with the Seahawks but the issues behind the scenes began to rub those in his new organization the wrong way again.

On October 18th, 2014, Harvin was shipped out of the upper northwest and sent across the country to the floundering New York Jets for a conditional mid-round draft pick.

Now with his third team in the span of three years, Harvin prepares to take on one of his former squads, likely with a little extra emphasis on his performance.

Through five games with his new team, Harvin has only 19 catches for 182 yards to add to 17 rushes for 92 yards and 1TD. He is stuck on a sinking ship with a struggling young QB and a dead to rights coach. This recipe would leave one to believe that it’s only a matter of time before the fireworks are on full display once again.

Maybe this weekend’s game against the Vikings could be the straw that broke the camels back…for the third time in three years.