Percy Harvin is now with his third team in as many seasons. His past two stops have ended in less-than-stellar fashion. Bad blood might be too strong of a term to use, but the Minnesota Vikings and Seattle Seahawks won't exactly be sending Harvin any holiday cards.
All of that is okay with Harvin, who is excited to join the New York Jets. He just hopes he can be seen for the person he is right now, not the person he has been in the past.
''I'm definitely not a perfect person,'' Harvin said after his first practice with New York Monday. ''I have a lot of things that I wish I could have done a little differently. But I'm moving forward. I'm learning from those lessons.
''I'm happy to be here right now and looking to make the most out of it,'' he said.
Harvin was traded to the Jets for a conditional draft choice three days ago. Jets general manager John Idzik thought Harvin represented too much value to pass up on.
''I look at it,'' Idzik said, ''as this could be a potential coup for the New York Jets.''
Harvin was "shocked" by the trade, as was much of the football world. The Seahawks had sent a collection of draft picks, including a first-rounder, to Minnesota for the dynamic receiver in 2013 after all. But now Harvin has been traded twice since being drafted in 2009. The 26-year-old is incredibly talented but has a track record of difficult behavior. Harvin even acknowledged that he had "incidents" with former Seattle teammates Golden Tate and Doug Baldwin.
''The way I go about my business is by keeping everything in-house, but for whatever reason, they decided to unleash things,'' Harvin said. ''Some things did happen. That's in the past. We've moved forward and I've talked to Golden and Doug. We've all moved forward from it. I'm here now and I'm moving on.''
Jets right tackle Breno Giacomini, who was with Harvin in Seattle last season, came to Harvin's defense when he said the incidents are being "blown up for no reason" and "wasn't like it was this big, huge boxing match."
''Almost everybody in this locker room has been in a fight before,'' Giacomini said. ''We play football, you know what I'm saying? Oh, it happened twice? Who cares? He's a good competitor. That's what it is. I know it was squashed right away with Golden because I was there, and I heard the same thing about Doug. I think it's being blown up.''
Harvin's mercurial nature, coupled with his lack of production this season, seemingly led to Seattle's decision to cut ties with him. Harvin did admit to being "frustrated" with his role in the Seahawks offense.
''Not that I didn't like what I was doing, I just wanted to do a little bit more,'' he said. ''As a receiver, I wanted to just get downfield just a little bit more than I was doing.''
Harvin did not bring his frustration to the attention of coaches and did not request a trade. To his credit, he says he harbors no ill will to Seattle.
''They brought me a Super Bowl,'' he said.
Jets coach Rex Ryan was excited to add Harvin to the team and didn't feel it was necessary toa ddress Harvin's checkered past.
''I don't think I need to,'' Ryan said. ''To me, things happen and every single guy has had something, but to me, it's just all about right now and moving forward.
''I think it brings an explosive talent to our team. It should be fun to watch.''
''It's definitely a place I want to be for a long time,'' Harvin said. ''I'm here, I'm glad I'm here and I'm going to make the most of the opportunity.''
