As usual in the NFL, sources are pushing out Percy Harvin's past misdeeds to explain the Seahawks' unexpected decision to trade the receiver to the Jets. The Seattle Times picked up a few instances, including a couple of fights with teammates—like the time he reportedly gave Golden Tate a black eye before the Super Bowl.
Here's how the Times described Harvin's Seahawk-on-Seahawk violence:
One source confirmed a report that Harvin had gotten into an altercation with former Seahawk Golden Tate before the Super Bowl that resulted in Tate getting a black eye.
A source also said Harvin had an altercation with Seattle receiver Doug Baldwin in the week leading up to the final exhibition game this August at Oakland that resulted in Baldwin getting a cut on his chin and each player being excused from practices that week. Harvin, who did not practice for two days before that game, did not make the trip to Oakland for what the team said at the time was "a personal matter."
If it maybe sounds a little dubious that two teammates could duke it out during Super Bowl week, under the nose of the entire nation's sports journalism industry, without a peep of this being reported, there is this photo of Tate from the game sporting what sort of looks like a shiner:
There was a more recent problem, too:
One final straw, a league source said, came in Sunday's 30-23 loss to Dallas when Harvin apparently balked at going back into the game in the fourth quarter. Harvin played 26 of 48 official snaps but did not play 11 of the final 17. He finished with six touches for minus-1 yard.
"He's just a time bomb," one NFL source said, describing him as "too moody" and noting that Minnesota had also grown tired of dealing with Harvin, which precipitated his trade to Seattle in March 2013.
This out-the-door bashing is a little tiring. Harvin sounds like an asshole, but his only real unforgivable crime was failing to produce at a level that would excuse his behavior.
Photo: Getty