If misery and dysfunction truly love company, Percy Harvin should be at home as never before with the New York Jets.
Rex Ryan and the Jets welcomed Harvin into one of the league’s most unsettled locker rooms as demonstratively as the defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks displayed he had outstayed his welcome in theirs.
Imagine that, Percy Harvin can get too “turnt up” for even the loquacious likes of Richard Sherman and the Legion of Doom. But enough never seems to be enough where the Jets are concerned, particularly where the matter of ineptitude is in play.
Did not Ryan or GM John Idzik stop for one moment to consider why the world champs would be turning the page on Harvin less than a year after acquiring him for a first and third-round draft pick and after guaranteeing him at least $25.5 million in riches? Did they not ask themselves why the talent-starved Minnesota Vikings were just as eager to rid themselves of the effects he can have?
During his time in Seattle, Harvin was rumored to be involved in more skirmishes and indiscretions than the overall number of passes he caught. He reportedly fought with Golden Tate and Doug Baldwin last season and already this year had nearly come to blows with star quarterback Russell Wilson. During last week’s once unthinkable 30-23 home loss to Dallas, Harvin allegedly refused to go back in the game at one of the most critical stages when he was still physically capable of doing so.
And now he’s the Jets problem, as if at 1-6 and with the league’s third worse record they can afford anymore distractions. Harvin only caught 22 passes for 133 yards for the Seahawks this season, but his impact on their offense was certainly felt.
Word is he constantly complained about not touching the ball enough to the point offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell “tried to shoehorn” him into the gameplan at the expense of the team’s high-voltage, bread-and-butter running attack.
And still, egomaniac that he’s shown himself to be, Percy Harvin almost dared the suddenly struggling 3-2 champs to do anything about his borderline insubordination.
“We have to quit BS-ing ourselves,” Baldwin told reporters after the Dallas debacle in a clearly not so veiled dig at Harvin. “We’ve got to be real with ourselves. When we get in the meeting room, we’ve got to actually pay attention to things and not blow smoke up our tails that everything’s going to be all right. Things aren’t going right. Pay attention to things that we’re not doing right and correct them.”
With the Jets, chances are Harvin won’t ever have any such worries.
