The Seattle Seahawks traded Percy Harvin to the New York Jets on Friday after the wide receiver only played eight games for the team since being acquired in a trade from the Minnesota Vikings in March 2013.
There have been numerous reports that surfaced following Harvin's departure from Seattle detailing he was a distraction and that his presence was ultimately affecting the team's chemistry. This comes as no surprise because his problems can be documented as far back as high school. The wide receiver was suspended twice when he was a teenager for unsportsmanlike contact and for contacting an official and usual inappropriate language.
Now as a 26-year-old, the issues are seemingly persisting for the wide receiver. According to reports, Harvin was involved in two altercations as a member of the Seahawks. The first came last season, a week before the Super Bowl, when he fought former Seattle wide receiver Golden Tate and gave him a black eye. Tate signed with the Detroit Lions in the offseason. The second came during the preseason this year when he and wide receiver Doug Baldwin got into a fight and Harvin left him with a cut on his chin.
In addition to these incidents, sources say Harvin simply didn't fit with the Seahawks' offensive plan. Their offense is largely centered around running the ball with Marshawn Lynch and then opening the passing game with the play-action. Toss in a little bit of read-option, and that's the Seattle team we've seen over the past few seasons. But Harvin is a playmaker and the fact that he wasn't touching the ball as much as he preferred likely created some tension. Harvin has only 22 receptions for 133 yards to go along with 11 carries for 92 yards and a touchdown in five games with Seattle.
With a high-powered Seattle team, he perhaps believed he would be utilized more. His numbers through his first five games with Minnesota in 2010 and 2011 don't show too drastic of a difference to justify his alleged frustrations, but the fact that his involvement hasn't changed in the manner he believed could be the issue. In 2010 he had 20 receptions for 224 yards and three touchdowns and in 2011 he compiled 18 receptions for 183 yards through the first five games with a Minnesota team that focused on running the ball with Adrian Peterson and had no answer at the quarterback position. His involvement significantly increased at the beginning of the 2012 season when he caught 38 passes for 407 yards and a touchdown in the team's first five games, but his season was cut short due to an ankle injury. Harvin likely saw his future moving in this direction after his great contribution.
Last Sunday, Seattle had a tough time getting the offense going against the Dallas Cowboys and Harvin reportedly took himself out late in the game and refused to play when called upon by the coaches. This could have been the last straw for head coach Pete Carroll, who strongly believes in team chemistry and good camaraderie in the locker room. Harvin was known to be problematic for the Vikings in that sense and when Seattle traded for him, but Carroll probably thought he could change his attitude with a different environment and team philosophy. That clearly didn't happen since Harvin is now headed to New York to join the 1-6 Jets, who have a number of issues themselves.
The history of Harvin's troubles proved too much for Carroll to handle. The former Viking was involved in numerous arguments with head coaches Leslie Frazier and Brad Childress, including a shouting match with Frazier on national television in 2012 and then another with Childress in the weight room back in 2010, which ended with Harvin hurling a weight at Childress and putting a hole in the wall. He also tested positive for marijuana at the NFL scouting combine in 2009 and during his college years with the Florida Gators. There, he was also involved in an incident with a coach, in which he grabbed wide receivers coach Billy Gonzales by the neck and threw him to the ground.
Interestingly enough, the New York Jets met with Harvin prior to the 2009 NFL Draft, but after trading up to select quarterback Mark Sanchez, then-general manager Mike Tannenbaum couldn't get the right bargain to trade back into the first round to select the wide receiver.
Now he's with the Jets thanks to GM John Idzik, but his frustrations may continue as he joins a struggling offense whose passing attack ranks last in the NFL and 26th in yards per game.
