Percy Harvin Zone

Things are not looking good for Percy Harvin. A report in the Florida Times Union is saying that Percy Harvin might require surgery to help fix his injured heel. Thankfully, Meyer isn’t predicting the surgery to affect Percy’s ability to get on the field for opening day. Here’s what the article had to say:

Florida wide receiver Percy Harvin’s right heel injury might require surgery, and while physicians are still trying to determine the proper treatment, Gators coach Urban Meyer said it doesn’t appear the ailment will affect the player’s status for the 2008 season. Meyer said Monday that physicians, including a foot specialist in North Carolina, who have treated Harvin should have a plan within the next several days.

“It’s unique,” Meyer said of Harvin’s heel problem. “Not many guys have ever had this. The MRI showed that it’s a significant injury, and they [the physicians] want to make sure they do it right.”

Meyer said he didn’t know the exact term for Harvin’s injury but that it’s a bone issue. It’s something that Harvin, who will be a junior in the fall, first noticed in high school, and it really began to bother him last summer, Meyer said.

This is such a bummer. We really had high hopes for Percy and it would suck if he faces setbacks or anything like that and the season hasn’t even started yet.

Bad news is coming out of the Swamp. Our favorite Gator, Percy Harvin, tweaked his heel and is done for the spring.

“It’s obviously not going to affect the fall,” coach Urban Meyer said. “It might affect the rest of the spring. They’re going to get a second opinion.”

Percy Harvin has definitely been frustrated by weird injuries over his career as a gator. He just can’t seem to get right. “He loses his mind sometimes when he gets hurt because he’s so competitive,” Meyer said. “He just wants to be right. He’s had this for over a year and a half. “

All we can do as fans is hope that Percy is OK and will be ready for the home opener. It’s funny how yesterday we were talking about how Percy was burning all the DBs in practice, and now he’s on the sideline.

This also means he won’t be participating in the 40-yard dash against a student during the Orange and Blue game.

We’ll keep you updated as the spring and summer goes on.

Percy Harvin had another great practice on Friday and over the weekend. Here’s what Gator Country had to say about it:

This group is so talented I think I could coach them to be All-Americans. Percy again made the difficult look easy almost all day today. He faked a couple of the best corners out of their underwear in seven on seven and one on one drills.

Percy also burned Freshman cornerback Janoris Jenkins for a touchdown.

The Gators put the pads on for the first time on Saturday. Percy looked as natural as he always does. I know he’s primed for a huge season in 2008. There’s no doubt in my mind that he’ll be going pro after this year, so he’ll put everything he has into it. Hopefully Heisman type numbers.

The Gators first Spring Practice of the year took place yesterday. The players were amped and ready to take the field after a somewhat disappointing 2007 season. GatorBait.net listed Percy as one of their Top 5 players who stood out. Here’s what they had to say:

Percy Harvin - It can be difficult for a player like Harvin to impress because so much is already expected of him. Despite that, today he was impressive - literally playing with the defensive backs as he ran away from them, beating all he went against on both short and long passes.

While it is true that so much is expected from Percy that it is hard for him to impress us, but it is great news to hear that he is running well and still burning by defensive backs. Without speed, Percy just becomes a regular WR.

We’ll be sure to keep all you Percy Harvin fans updated as the spring practices progress.

I finally got around to changing the header image on this Percy Harvin fan site. If you don’t remember, the old one had two pictures of Percy from his freshman season, where of course he was wearing the number 8 jersey. Percy now wears #1, so it was only appropriate that I change the header image to include two newer pictures of Percy.

I must admit that it took a letter from a reader for me to finally make this change. It was long overdue and I’m sorry it took so long!

Next up on the agenda is to finally make some awesome Percy Harvin Wallpapers. I haven’t been able to find any good ones on the internet and I know there are a ton of Percy fans out there that wouldn’t mind having one.

The following article was printed in the Alligator today. Urban Meyer is turning the Orange and Blue Spring game into a fun festival will all sorts of activities. He wants to get the attention of the National Media and really amp of future recruits. The fastest non-student athlete will race Percy Harvin for a scholarship. Pretty cool huh?

Think you can beat Percy Harvin, Deonte Thompson, Louis Murphy and Chris Rainey in the 40-yard dash?

UF coach Urban Meyer will give students a chance to prove it — with a full scholarship on the line.

Meyer announced the first-ever speed challenge on Wednesday. The event will take place during the Orange and Blue Game on April 12. ESPN GameDay will broadcast live from Gainesville and ESPN will televise the game live.

While full details have yet to be worked out, Meyer said that on Thursdays of spring practices, which begin March 19, strength coaches will be out on the practice fields and students will be invited to come out and train. The entrants will be whittled down to one lucky contestant who will face Harvin, Thompson, Murphy and Rainey in front of a packed Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.

“I want to give back to our students somehow,” Meyer said. “That’s going to be a great afternoon. If I’m a recruit and I come out and watch the ESPN GameDay crew in the stadium, watch it on a beautiful afternoon in the spring in Florida, and then you get to see a 40-yard dash in front of 60,000 people, that’d be kind of neat. Maybe that can help us get a couple of fast guys in recruiting.”

The Gators have a new Running Backs Coach in Kenny Carter. He came from Vandy and is already familiar with Florida situation in the backfield. Last year, Florida’s two leading rushers were Tim Tebow and Percy Harvin. I don’t think that will be the case in 2008, but Carter isn’t so quick to change a good thing. Check out what he recently said in a press conference:

“Our whole deal is to do what we need to do to win games. If we have one guy that rushes for 1,000 yards, outstanding. But if we have a collection of guys that rush for more than 1,000 yards, then we’re getting the production out of the position, which is more important.

“In the end, it all comes down to how many yards did you rush for. Ultimately, it doesn’t matter who rushed for what. What matters is what we produce from that position and how many wins do you have at the end of the season.”

This leads me to believe that the Gators will still use Harvin as a running back in certain situations. What matters is that they produce from that position. The Gators will have a much better running back core in 2008 then they did last year. Percy won’t likely be counted on to run the ball 10 or 15 times a game anymore. He’ll probably be brought in as a change of pace type of guy. Maybe 5 carries a game just to keep the defense on their toes.

The Florida Gators start their spring practices in a couple of weeks, Wednesday March 19th I believe is the first day. Percy Harvin is amped and ready to go. The Gators will work out and players will participate in drills that eventually lead up to the Orange and Blue Game on April 12.

When it comes to skills on the field, Percy doesn’t really have to prove much to the coaches. They know what he’s capable of. What Percy does need to prove is that he can be a leader on and off the field. Harvin is a junior now and will have dozens of underclassmen looking up to him… seeking him for advice.

I’ve always felt like Harvin has been reserved and not outspoken. He’s never vocal in the papers or vying for media attention. He does his job and leads by example. However, this year, I’d love to see Percy take an active role on the sideline and in the huddle when it comes to getting teammates pumped up and ready to play in crucial situations.

Much like the Chinese have “the year of the dog”, I am proclaiming 2008 the Year of Percy Harvin. Percy has to be getting pumped the the Spring Game coming up in 2 months. I’m sure he’s working his ass off in the gym trying to put on a few pounds of muscle and increasing his quickness.

I’m not saying this is a make or break it year for Harvin, but in 2008 I think we’re going to see some very big things from him. Not only on the field, but off the field too. Fans across the country will be hearing the name “Percy Harvin.” I think he’ll be on the cover of magazines, have ESPN stories done about him and more.

That’s why 2008 is the year of Percy Harvin. He’ll dominate the stat line and grace our television screens.

Yesterday was National Signing Day for high school athletes to sign their letters of intent to universities. Rivals ranked the Gators as having the number 3 recruiting class in the country. Not bad. Near the top of Florida’s list is a stand-out junior college player named Carl Moore.

Carl Moore, WR 6-3 220 Sierra (Calif.) Community College - could take a lot of heat off of Percy Harvin in the passing game. He’s much bigger then Harvin and could cause the attention of opposing defensive backs. I don’t know if he’ll be an instant starter, but he will definitely see a lot of time on the field. Should Moore draw double team’s, Harvin will feast on the CBs in single coverage.

Bringing in another stud wide receiver can only help Percy Harvin because teams won’t be able to solely focus on stopping him.

For more information about Gator Recruiting, head over to Gator Envy.