Talk about multiple personalities...

Damage control. Not a minute too soon.

Looks like this will blow over, but it won't soon be forgotten.

While that's true, you do have to take that with some context. Jenkins was lost to injury, Berrian basically was on vacation until cut. By the end of the year we were playing a 7th round rookie so naturally Harvin would get a lot of touches.

Musgrave saying he wants to use Harvin more was nothing more than a single sentence blurb in an article. The fact is the Vikings were widely criticized for the low usage of Harvin in the media, the fanbase, and even announcers during the game. Surely if they all saw it, so did Harvin. Musgrave can say what he wants but Harvin has been at the OTAs and now mini-camp so he's able to see first hand what Musgrave is starting to implement. We can only speculate. I'm not advocating a "Randy Ratio" for Harvin nor am I approving of how he's handling the situation, however, I think taking what the coaches say as dogma and calling Harvin a "prima donna" in one broad stroke isn't fair.

I don't think we know enough of the facts to make either of those judgements.

Unless he works his tail off and has a stand out season. But yeah, people will be talking about whenever they mention the Vikings for awhile.

Good points. If Percy doesn't get in the game often this season, a lot of people will be very upset. Musgrave's Red Zine offense personnel were very questionable last season, IIRC.

Maybe we should assume that Percy never actually asked for a trade? Did anybody from the organization or Percy himself ever confirm that?

Is it possible that someone took the "unhappy" comments from the day before and added a little?

This brings up the question - did anyone actually confirm Harvin had requested a trade? In his statements to the media he said he was unhappy about a few things, but I never heard him or his agent say he wanted to be traded. I also never heard Spielman or Frazier say it. That seemed to come from the media. Maybe Harvin made an off-hand remark to someone behind-the-scenes and it went from that to a trade demand? Most of the time when a guy demands a trade, the request is made publicly and clearly. Could all of this simply have been blown way out of proportion by media that is desperate for sensational stories at this time of the offseason?

This tweet from Harvin seems to imply that is the case.

When the Vikings drafted Harvin there were some reports questioning his attitude and injury history but I dont remember anything in reference to his mental stability. So, just exactly what happened and when did this guy turn into Sybil? One minute he is complaining, demanding a trade and wont show up for practice and the next minute he tweats his "fans" and tells them he had a great practice and acts as tho he does'nt understand what all the fuss is about.

The more I read about this situation, the more I tend to believe that this was created by Harvins agent and now that his client is receiving some harsh critisism.......its all about damage control. I have no information to confirm that, its just my opinion.

If its not due to Harvins agent then IMO Percy has just joined the ranks of the me me me its all about me group of NFL players who dont understand the words honor or contract. Honor in the sense of the team that took a chance on him, his teammates who count on him, and the pure fact that HE signed a CONTRACT. While his performace may very well be above his pay grade I doubt HE would be asking for a pay cut if he was not performing at his current level. When this contract is up, if he does'nt like what the Vikings offer I believe he can become a free agent and and he can sell his talents to the highest bidder but until that time....quit whinning and honor the contract you signed. Just my opinion.

Makes me wonder if he ever specifically asked for a trade as well. Spielman came out and said they were not trading him but was that to refute rumors or something Harvin actually said?

When Spielman said that I believe it was addressing a question asked by one of the members of the media around him. When he gave that interview it was well into the "Percy Requests Trade!" talk.

I wondered about that too. Spielman didn't confirm or deny anything at all about what Harvin was unhappy about and said only that the Vikings had no plans to trade him, but that was in response to a question during the presser. Neither Harvin nor his agent made a public announcement of a trade request. My impression was that it was leaked out of the Vikings front office to a reporter. If not, then a reporter either misunderstood something someone said, or else completely fabricated the story.

I was just about to post this same thing. No one ever quoted Percy, they just used their "sources". Stupid media.

Apparently it was Jon Krawczynski who 'broke' the story.

Sure but the point is he got the touches and he showed that he could be very productive even when defenses knew he had become the primary weapon in the offense. One would think that would get the coaching staff's attention and encourage them to continue getting the ball to him often. At this point, we have nothing to suggest that won't happen.



Do we need more at this time of year? As the saying goes, the proof will be in the pudding but at this point, is there any good reason not to believe Musgrave wants to get the ball to one of his best offensive weapons even more than last year?



That happened early last season and the team addressed the issue over the course the season. I see no reason to continue viewing Harvin's opportunities as a problem when he finished with the second most touches on the team. Sure, you can point to injuries as a factor that may have influenced those results but that doesn't change the bottom line. The Vikes were criticized for under-utilizing Harvin early in the season and by the end of the season, only Adrian Peterson had more opportunities to make plays on offense than Harvin. Musgrave saw the opportunity to get more out of Harvin and did so. That's to his credit as well as Harvin's.



I'm not taking Musgrave's comment as dogma, I'm just taking it at face value because I see no logical reason to do otherwise. As for Harvin, I think he was behaving like a prima donna, putting selfish interests ahead of the team. YMMV.

IDK what Percy was/is upset about but it seems he never really asked for a trade. Usually when someone asks for a trade even if the player downplays it its all but confirmed by the players agent, multiple sources, the team, etc.

Guys like Schefter and Glazer just RT'd it and made small comments like "Vikings won't trade him regardless." Usually those two would be all over this even if they weren't the first one to report it. It was intially reported by some guy I never heard of and the local media (specifically Pelissero) took it and ran with it.

So while Harvin has issues I think the whole trade thing was either fabricrated, exaggerated, or someone got their facts misconstrued. Whether that was by whoever the "sources" were or the media themselves, I don't know.


Either way, this seems to have blown over (at least for now).

Here's the AP story filed by Jon Krawczynski


http://www.chron.com/sports/article/Har ... 648326.php

I don't think it's worth getting in a long debate because as you mention, its June so I'm going to truncate your reply. However, Harvin said he was unhappy with certain undisclosed issues. Were his actions really all that prima donna? He showed up for voluntary OTAs, showed up for mini-camp, and is now going to be working with Ponder with all indications he'll be at training camp.

Everything "prima donna" from the trade rumors to the Vikings being caught off guard are all coming from unnamed close sources. The only thing we know for sure is Harvin has come out and said he's unhappy with certain aspects of the team and an OC coming out and saying he plans to use Harvin more. This will all play out in time, all I'm saying is it seems a bit unfair to take one at face value and dismiss the other.

It was reportedly "confirmed" with a source with knowledge of the situation that Harvin requested a trade. And the biggest indicator to me that it actually happened is that neither Harvin, nor his agent, nor the Vikings have flat out denied it.

But it seems as though it's water under the bridge or is being handled internally, the way it should've been in the first place.

Exactly. But maybe the problem was the lack of movement internally. I doubt the first time Percy and his agent brought this up was monday. They've probably been working for a while on it. And if anything it sounds like making it external moved things along. The big change of heart sure sounds to me like Zygi or someone in the front office let him know they'd take care of him.

Big of a female dog way to handle it though by percy and his agent. But hey, it seems to have worked!

His actions aren't the worst examples of prima donna behavior we've seen from a pro athlete so I don't want to make too much of my use of that term earlier. Overall, I'm not convinced Harvin is a selfish, "me first" player. However, while he showed up to mini-camp, he also departed it without explanation (although he thankfully came back today) and his decision to go the press and issue vague comments about his unhappiness and the issues he had with the team strikes me as selfish, needlessly disruptive behavior (hence my use of the term prima donna).



I apologize if I'm being thick here but I'm not sure what you think I'm dismissing. I'm taking Musgrave's statement at face value because it's logical. I see no good reason to doubt his intentions. I'm taking Harvin's statements about his unhappiness at face value too but unfortunately, they're so vague that we don't know what he's unhappy about.

I agree with your overall sentiment. Perhaps it was just a heat of the moment type of comment that shouldn't have been made. I recall many a time putting my foot in my mouth as a 24-year old.

In the end, it was better that Harvin was vague. Had he come out and said, "I'm unhappy. I think Musgrave is incompetent." That would have been a great deal more disruptive. Hopefully whatever the issue was, it's squashed.

This team is at least 3-4 yrs away from doing anything. I'd trade Jarred Allen, and Harvin. Allen deserves to be on a contender now. He is at his peak. Harvin will not be used well and Webb will still be guarding the clipboard on the sidelines. I really hate to sound this negative about this team... I just think we're in for some dark days for a while.

Oh, I do too. I also recall doing it at ages 25, 26, 27...



I hope so. I'm inclined to agree with Paul that it was probably about money, among other things. I honestly doubt it was about Musgrave. I think it might just be frustration at wanting to be on a better team and realizing that the Vikes are firmly in rebuilding mode. After all, Harvin got to play on a division-winning team that went to the conference championship in his rookie season. He's had a taste of real NFL success and since it was an immediate taste followed by a serious fall (for the team), that might be hard to accept.

Jim

Wow! You actually remember that far back? At you age?



I think it was about multiple things, including money and maybe not Musgrave but perhaps some of the offensive philosophy. I recall times when a healthy Harvin was standing on the sidelines while the Vikings offense was on the field trying to score, oftentimes when they were behind last year. Harvin has a right to feel frustrated about those moments, as AD did in similar circumstances (and Peterson said he did), last season, a year that as you pointed out might have been difficult to accept.

Of course, as with everyone else here, I'm just guessing. I will say I don't think has the intensity of the Harvin vs Childress moments where Percy genuinely disliked Chili and disapproved of the way Coach Arrogance was doing things. I mean, that almost led to a fist fight between Harvin and Childress.

On that note, I've been a fan of Harvin's since his college days with the Gators. He's always been emotional, spontaneous, and really unpredictable. OTOH, Harvin has also always been a competitive and top notch player who gives it all on the field.

Hey now, just because something happened before the advent of paper doesn't mean it didn't happen.

No, but I was smart enough to write things down (on paper, PurpleMustReign)!

I've been behind on the board of late and just got all caught up. In the other Harvin thread (about him maybe holding out, prior to this trade demand thing), Eli posted this article:

http://www.1500espn.com/sportswire/Peli ... _him041312

It's from Pelissero from mid-April (before the draft). The article is a hatchet job and Pelissero should be embarrassed to have written it. It's the kind of thing that reeks of a front office person with an agenda. If I'm Percy and I read that, I certainly wouldn't feel as happy and secure as a lot in this thread feel he should be.

Peilissero seems like he really loves his job and is good at getting news to us and stuff but man can he be a hack at times.

What's wrong with it? From where I sit, the story is fair and balanced.

Pelissero didn't say Harvin wasn't worth re-signing. He said it's not as easy a question as it might seem on the surface. He said the Vikings have a lot of things to take into account besides Harvin's playmaking ability.

Not to mention, it's not Pelissero's job to be a Percy apologist.

Did you ever read the Sporting News article that Pelissero refers to? His April 12th article was largely in response to that article written a few days earlier.

http://aol.sportingnews.com/ncaa-footba ... -will-musc

I'm not sure anyone had any idea just how out of control Harvin was at FSU until some of those allegations came to light. Taken together with some of his behavior at Minnesota, it doesn't paint a pretty picture. And it certainly presaged Harvin's bizarre behavior of this past week.