Re: Harvin traded
Posted: Mon Mar 11, 2013 7:57 pm
As for the rumor mill in regards to Harvin, the only guy who had a definitive "hate" for Harvin was Sid. And that was because Sid made a big deal up and until the draft that the Vikings weren't going to draft Harvin because his "inside sources" told him so. And when they drafted him, Sid was seriously pissed off. That doesn't come out of my brainpan, that's straight from Reusse's twitter feed. Reusse knows the guy as well as anyone. I would imagine that most reporters who were close to Sid could sympathize, but mostly, I figure it wasn't hate...it was just being able to write about a juicy controversy. When you're a Vikings sportswriter and you're looking at a dull offseason/thinking about maybe getting some work on the side, juicy controversies are money.
In any case, Harvin was obviously a special player, but he was also an incredibly aggravating one. He was easily one of the most two-faced Vikings I can remember in many years...a guy who would make a stink if he was the focus of the offense just as fast as he would when the team would sign or draft a guy to provide some "competition". He had problems with all of the head coaches he's had, and if you can get pissed off personally at Leslie Frazier, you've got an serious attitude. Whenever there were rumblings of problems, no matter how contrived they were, Harvin himself would make a nasty comment, then walk it back a day or two later. He seemed like a guy that the other players really liked, which makes it even harder to figure the guy out. However, if people were constantly reporting that he had a hard time because his quarterback wasn't deserving of his services, that also kind of makes him a cancer. Quarterbacks aren't cheap, they're not easy to find in the draft, and even when you pay a lot of money sometimes they don't pan out. If your organization doesn't have an elite quarterback, a professional will step up his game and make the best of it. Just like Adrian Peterson. Cris Carter did a lot with some pretty retread quarterbacks and you rarely heard him complain to the point where he demanded a trade.
Even if Harvin didn't demand a trade, even if all of this was a fabrication (which I have a hard time believing, because this much usually is based on at least a grain of truth), the guy didn't exactly define what it meant to be a professional. I think Sidney Rice was a more professional player during his time in Minnesota. Losing Rice was kind of a gut-check for me, even though he had a bad case of the injury-itis. Harvin had a lot of the Moss attitude without the straightforward honesty, and it really began grating on me last year. At least with Randy Moss, you knew exactly where he stood on a situation. And ultimately, this was all about money from what everyone has said. Harvin wanted some insane money and didn't get it. The kind of money that would have made it next to impossible for the Vikings to fill other holes that they've got. If he wanted a salary closer to Megatron's, then all one has to do is take a close look at the Lion's record and you kind of realize how much good that would do you.
In any case, Harvin was obviously a special player, but he was also an incredibly aggravating one. He was easily one of the most two-faced Vikings I can remember in many years...a guy who would make a stink if he was the focus of the offense just as fast as he would when the team would sign or draft a guy to provide some "competition". He had problems with all of the head coaches he's had, and if you can get pissed off personally at Leslie Frazier, you've got an serious attitude. Whenever there were rumblings of problems, no matter how contrived they were, Harvin himself would make a nasty comment, then walk it back a day or two later. He seemed like a guy that the other players really liked, which makes it even harder to figure the guy out. However, if people were constantly reporting that he had a hard time because his quarterback wasn't deserving of his services, that also kind of makes him a cancer. Quarterbacks aren't cheap, they're not easy to find in the draft, and even when you pay a lot of money sometimes they don't pan out. If your organization doesn't have an elite quarterback, a professional will step up his game and make the best of it. Just like Adrian Peterson. Cris Carter did a lot with some pretty retread quarterbacks and you rarely heard him complain to the point where he demanded a trade.
Even if Harvin didn't demand a trade, even if all of this was a fabrication (which I have a hard time believing, because this much usually is based on at least a grain of truth), the guy didn't exactly define what it meant to be a professional. I think Sidney Rice was a more professional player during his time in Minnesota. Losing Rice was kind of a gut-check for me, even though he had a bad case of the injury-itis. Harvin had a lot of the Moss attitude without the straightforward honesty, and it really began grating on me last year. At least with Randy Moss, you knew exactly where he stood on a situation. And ultimately, this was all about money from what everyone has said. Harvin wanted some insane money and didn't get it. The kind of money that would have made it next to impossible for the Vikings to fill other holes that they've got. If he wanted a salary closer to Megatron's, then all one has to do is take a close look at the Lion's record and you kind of realize how much good that would do you.
