Percy Harvin Zone

Percy Harvin has done very little in practice since the Gators opened up last Monday. He’s coming off that heel surgery, and Coach Urban Meyer has publicly said he’s a bit nervous about the recovery process. But is it still too early to panic?

“He’s taking it slow and being smart about it,” Tebow said. “He doesn’t have to go out there and practice today or tomorrow and be Percy. He has to be Percy when we play Hawaii. We know he’s going to do that. There’s no reason to push him back. He’ll be ready to go.”

Well if Timmy is that confident in Percy’s ability to come back, then shouldn’t we all? Even fellow Gator WR Louis Murphy is chiming in about Percy. “He’s scary good when he’s 75 percent,” Murphy said. “When he comes back, he’s going to be something to see.”

I say we still wait it out. If Percy Harvin still isn’t hitting the practice field hard by a few days before the Hawaii game, then we can start to panic. But for now, let’s wish him well and hope he comes back strong.

Yesterday I was down in Gainesville for the day and decided to check out some of the Gator football practice around 4:30 p.m. I waited patiently for all the players to exit the stadium and walk across the street to the practice fields. Finally, after all the other plays came out… Percy Harvin showed up.

Being the last one out is no big deal. Percy had a small crowd of kids around him wanting autographs. He was very polite and signed as many as he could. He even took pictures with some of the people. Unfortunately, since he was almost late to practice, one of the assistants came out and yelled “Let’s go Percy.” He wasn’t in trouble, but he needed to speed things up or the coaches might not be happy.

Because he didn’t have time to sign autographs for everyone I didn’t get one. I was however, able to snap this picture as he walked by. And if you’re wondering… his arms are as big as they look in those Gator Charity Challenge Pictures.

Evan Alexander of the Palm Beach Post was on hand yesterday during the Gator’s first football practice. I wasn’t sure if Percy Harvin would be out there suited up and ready to go 100%. It looks like Coach Meyer had the same precautions. Here’s what Evan had to say:

In the afternoon session, the focus was on wide receiver Percy Harvin. The junior star had heel surgery in the spring but has recovered and will be ready to play. He practiced lightly, not running at full speed and skipping some drills.

Meyer said he was not concerned about Harvin’s heel, but instead another part of Harvin’s body reacting negatively to the surgery. Before having surgery, Harvin experienced pain in his knee and hip, and at the time Meyer said it was caused by Harvin compensating for the heel.

So I’m a little bit confused by the statement. Is Percy’s knee and hip acting up as a result of his light practice yesterday? Or is it a constant pain he’s had since the surgery? If Percy’s heel is fine, the I think the rest of his body should fall into place. It’s important to keep his workload light, so he’ll be ready for opening day. He knows the offense and won’t benefit at all from being out there in 100 degree heat for twoadays.

There’s an email going around that has pictures of Percy Harvin at the recent Gator Charity Challenge. I guess during the offseason while Percy hasn’t been able to run, he’s been working on bulking up his upper body instead. The dude looks like David Boston on roids. When Percy Harvin came to Florida he looked like a little scrawny kid… now he’s a freaking BEAST!

Check out Percy throwing a 45-pound medicine ball.

SEC Media Days start tomorrow in Alabama. The University of Florida is scheduled for Wednesday from 1:10 - 3:10 p.m. I’m sure you can dial in to any local SEC sports radio stations (like 1010xl.com) and get constant updates. I was shocked to see Percy Harvin missing from the lineup for the Univeristy of Florida. The Gators obviously have Coach Urban Meyer and QB Tim Tebow scheduled for the press conference, but they also brought along OT Phil Trautwein, who didn’t play last year. But he is a senior, so I can’t really argue it.

Chris Low of ESPN.com had this to say about the situation: “Florida receiver Percy Harvin: I know coaches like to spread the wealth and bring one offensive and one defensive player, but Harvin is the most exciting playmaker in the league. Maybe his surgically repaired right heel simply couldn’t withstand the pounding of walking to and from all those interviews. Nah, Percy’s shown on the field he’s a lot tougher than that.”

It must have been a hard decision for Urban to make. The fans and the media want to see Percy Harvin. They want to know how he’s doing. With a good year in 2008, Percy will be headed to the NFL… so I don’t think he’ll get another chance to participate in an SEC Media Day. O-well.

Our favorite Florida Gator, Percy Harvin, is “ahead of schedule” in his return from heel surgery, coach Urban Meyer said Thursday. Percy Harvin has started running full speed and should be ready to go when the Gators begin fall practice next month. This is great news for all Gator fans anxious to see Percy back on the field.

“He’s doing tremendous,” Meyer said at the Florida Sports Writers Association’s annual college football media days. “What happens with skilled athletes and you see it all the time — especially with the race-horse-type guys — if they hurt a certain part of their body, another part of their body takes over and then you start having the hip flexors, hamstring issues, quad issues. So we’re being very cautious.”

It’s been 3 months since his surgery in April. Hopefully all the time off and quick recover will help put these nagging injuries behind him. I really feel like Percy is poised for a break out year in 2008.

NCAA Football 2009 hit stores yesterday. This game is one of the most highly anticipated games every year. Darren McFadden graced the cover and we can hope that one day Percy Harvin will follow. After reading a couple of reviews on the game, I felt I just had to make a post about this. Check out what one person had to say:

Florida’s No. 1 receiver, Percy Harvin, is a god in this game. During a Dynasty season, he averaged 50.1 yards per punt return.

In the game, Percy has an overall player rating of 96 and a speed rating on 98. That’s just insane. I don’t even want to know what his juke and acceleration skills are. If you’re interested in checking out the player stats before you go buy the game, you can download a complete spreadsheet here.

I can’t wait to head to the store and pick this game up. I’ll make Percy Harvin be involved in every play.

The news on Percy Harvin’s recovery is few and far between. I think it’s safe to say that no news is good news in this situation. People on message boards are reporting different rumors, but most say that he is doing just fine and will be 100% for practice. Here’s one of the most recent rumors I’ve read… it’s hard to tell if the guy is serious:

On a serious note, I ran into Percy at Alley Katz Bowling lanes about a week ago. He was bowling and not showing any hint of a limp. My son had him sign his Gator hat and I asked him how the heel was and he said, “oh, it’s fine. I’m good to go.”

I think Percy Harvin will be fine. Once practice starts, we’ll know more. Obviously if he is being limited or held back during two-a-days, then his recovery might have taken a setback.

We’ll keep you updated.

The Biletnikoff Award is given to college football’s most outstanding wide receiver. In 2007, the award was present to Texas Tech’s Michael Crabtree. This year, the Bleacher Report is putting Percy Harvin’s name up on the list as a potential winner. Of course he’ll be up against some stiff competition in Crabtree and Jeremy Maclin.

Last year, Percy didn’t have a good shot at winning the award because he was utilized heavily as a running back. If Meyer is true to his word and Harvin doesn’t carry the ball as much in 2008, that will open him up for more involvement in the passing game. Harvin is a very fast, deep threat receiver. He has potential to get 1400+ receiving yards and double-digit touchdowns if he stays healthy. And with the nation’s best quarterback, Tim Tebow, throwing him the ball, Percy could also push close 100 receptions.

It will take a magical, healthy year for Percy Harvin to win the Biletnikoff in 2008, but it’s nice to see him getting national attention at the wide receiver position.

If you’re a college football fan, then last year during the Heisman race you probably saw a lot of HE15MAN signs everywhere you looked. Tim Tebow popularized this because his jersey number (#15) fit so nicely in the Heisman name by replacing the letters “is”.

Browse some Gator Forums and you will see that a lot of Percy Harvin fans are already getting the HE1SMAN campaign going. They’ve replaced the “i” in Heisman with Percy’s jersey number (#1).

It will be interesting to watch Gator games this year and see how many fans are wearing HE15MAN vs. how many fans are wearing HE1SMAN. Percy Harvin would have to have a Reggie Bush (2005) type season in order to win the Heisman. It’s certainly possible considering he is featured in all aspects of the Gator offense. We’ll likely see HE1SMAN t-shirts, signs, license plates and everything else you can think of. I can’t wait for football season to start!