After acquiring Percy Harvin from Seattle, New York Jets general John Idzik proclaimed
it to be a 'coup' for the franchise. He and Rex Ryan beamed from ear-to-ear and
proclaimed the mercurial receiver to be a 'good fit' for the team's chemistry in the
locker room.
Right. That's why Seattle traded him to the Jets for a conditional sixth-round draft pick
which is only slightly more valuable than a dozen pair of used Nike cleats. Harvey became
so toxic in the locker room, brawling with teammates and nursing injuries, they shipped
a player whom they once traded a king's ransom for, across the country, far, far away
from the Emerald City. I don't think any team in NFL history was happier about receiving
a sixth-round pick than the Seahawks are.
Perhaps, the Jets brass figure a change of scenery would help change the stripes of
Harvey and turn him into Tim Tebow with talent. The mercurial wide-receiver has a
ton of that but also has enough baggage to proclaim him to be Samsonite with sprinter's
speed. The Jets can afford to take the gamble since they are on the edge of being irrelevant
and have more than enough cap space to do it. If Harvin strays off the straight and narrow,
the Jets can release him and don't have to pay him a dime next year.
But there's a better than good chance, the smile Harvin showed off in his first meeting
with the New York media, will be gone pretty quickly. After all, he did come out of
the University of Florida, the same school that has given the NFL the likes of Aaron
Hernandez, Brandon Spikes, and Riley Cooper. They turned out to be really good for
their respective locker rooms, didn't they?
Florida is the same program that had 31 of its players arrested during the Urban Meyer
era (2005-2010) and another 15 booked and finger-printed during Wil Muschamp's
glorious reign in Gainesville. It's frightening, really.
I understand some programs go through tough times with their 'student-athletes'
(wink,wink). Oklahoma, Colorado, Miami, and Florida State are just few of the major
ones who've seen a good number of their players get in trouble with the law. Let's face
it, these athletes aren't coming out of elite prep schools in the Northeast. Most of them
are from inner-city schools, broken homes, and low-income areas.
But nobody should really be surprised about Harvin and the toxic tag he's wearing
now. He was one of those extremely gifted athletes who have been pampered and
catered too since he was in Pop Warner football. I'm sure when things didn't go
his way, everyone bowed down to his greatness and pacified him after deifying him.
It happens and unfortunately, it seems to happen a lot with players at the University
of Florida.
For anyone to say they were surprised to see all this coming, would be really foolish.
NFL teams will tolerate tempermental talent until it doesn't produce or becomes too
much of a burden. If Harvin had been lighting it up this year, you can bet the Seahawks
would've looked the other way when it came to his attitude, but he wasn't.
Now, he's the burden of the New York Jets. Good luck with that Rex and company.
0 comments:
Post a Comment