If the Percy Harvin you thought you knew from his Vikings days was the brash, electric, unreliable, game-changing force who more or less defined the rise and fall of that era, perhaps you should get to know another side of Harvin.

The former Vikings playmaker opened up for a long interview with MMQB, much of it an examination of the anxiety he has dealt with for years and the fallout from it. Per the piece:

"Harvin starts with the painful stuff: the migraines he has endured since he was seven. … That pounding is linked, he says, to an anxiety disorder that has gripped him since he was a kid, which he didn't even know he had until he broke in with the Vikings and started making regular visits to the Mayo Clinic. Kept confidential by the NFL's medical protocols, and by his own protocols of manhood, the ailment caused Harvin to play most of his 79 NFL games on little or no sleep."

Read Michael Rand's blog at startribune.com/randball. michael.rand@startribune.com.