The ESPN morning debate slugfest, First Take, is visiting NFL training camps. And Wednesday morning that meant an eight-minute sit-down for Percy Harvin with Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayless, who shelved disagreement to let Harvin talk. (Molly Qerim, a newcomer to the crew, is the fourth person on the set.)
The former Vikings first-round draft choice, now in Buffalo by way of Seattle and the New York Jets, spent much of his time talking about his less-than-happy times (despite being on a Super Bowl-winning team) in Seattle. His time there included a fight with Seahawks receiver Doug Baldwin that was said to have led to his departure in 2014.
"In Seattle a lot of the receivers kind of kind of took me as a threat rather than accepted me as a teammate," Harvin said, adding: "After seeing some of the comments that were made in the media, it was like, 'Hey guys, I'm here to ball with you guys, to take us to the next level.' Guys looked at themselves like they were already established and didn't need any help."
Happier, so far, in Buffalo, Harvin told the First Take crew: "Where I'm at in my career right now, I'm just anxious to get back to how I was playing in Minnesota and take it to another level."
Harvin went on speculate about the reasons for his reputation around the NFL.
And, by the way, Harvin thinks he hasn't slowed that from his Vikings years. "The hip is something that bothered me back to my Minnesota days. ... My explosion is at an all-time high now."
Here's the entire interview:
