Percy Harvin deal is great for Seattle, with a big caveat
Mar 12, 2013, 10:54 AM | Updated: 1:20 pm
Vikings play by play man Paul Allen says the Seahawks are getting possibly the best offensive player in the NFL, when Percy Harvin is happy and healthy. But that isn't always the case. (AP image)
(AP image)
The praise keeps pouring in for the Seahawks trade for Minnesota wide receiver Percy Harvin. But it comes with some pretty big caveats.
“When he’s healthy and he’s happy, he changes games on a play by play basis,” said Vikings’ play-by-play announcer Paul Allen in an interview with Seattle’s Morning News. “But the emphasis is on ‘when,'” he said.
Harvin, considered one of the best offensive players in the National Football League, is coming off a tumultuous season that saw him clash with his coach and miss the last half of the year with an ankle injury. And while Allen praised his talent, he also sounded a cautionary note about the problems Harvin has had getting along with coaches from high school through college to the NFL.
“Clearly there were problems and acrimony and tumult behind the scenes that I don’t think a lot of the public and a lot of the people around the NFL didn’t know about,” he said. “You don’t just get rid of players that talented unless you feel you have a reason to do so.”
Still, Allen has plenty of praise for Harvin and said the deal to trade multiple draft picks for the mercurial 24-year-old is a good one for both teams.
“I credit the Seahawks for identifying something they feel they need to get over the hump, paying fair value or even over paying a little bit to get it and I predict Percy Harvin has an absolutely fantastic year next year.”
Allen said the trade for Harvin suddenly made the Seahawks even stronger contenders for the Super Bowl than they were when they narrowly lost to Atlanta in the NFC playoffs last season.
“I think he’s a perfect fit,” Allen said.
