My Percy Harvin Blog

The professional football player widely known as Percy Harvin was actually born William Percival Harvin III in May of 1988 and adopted the nickname Percy as short for his middle name Percival at a young age. Harvin went onto garner national attention as a standout player for the University of Florida (UF) Gators football program where he was an offensive weapon that helped the college win two national championships. After being drafted by the Minnesota Vikings in April of 2009 Percy has enjoyed the entirety of his pro football career in the National Football League (NFL) with the Minneapolis based Minnesota Vikings.

Long before becoming one of the favorite receiving targets for future hall of fame quarterback Brett Favre Percy grew up in Virginia Beach, Virginia where he excelled in athletics at Landstown High School. In 2004 the Landstown Eagles, his school football team, won a Virginia state championship. Interestingly with a high school state championship in 2004 and college national championships in 2006 and 2008 Harvin nearly won championships at the high school, college, and professional levels in a five year span before the Vikings suffered an overtime loss that resulted in the team being knocked out of the NFL playoffs one game shy of reaching the Super Bowl. A little known fact is that years before even winning a high school football championship Percy was part of a Pop Warner football team at the age of 13 that actually won the Pop Warner National Championship.

At 5'11" Harvin has always been considered a bit undersized and has also always been considered one of the fastest players on the football field. Percy reportedly ran a 40 yard dash in 4.32 seconds as a freshman in high school. A 40 time at that speed would be considered one of the fastest even by NFL combine standards. In February of 2009 at the NFL Combine Harvin was timed in the 40-yard dash with a time of 4.41 seconds.

As a track and field star Percy set five state track and field records and won state championships in the 200 meter dash, triple jump, long jump, 400 meter relay, and 100 meter dash. The success Harvin had on the track was unprecedented as no one in the state of Virginia had ever before won five state championships in a single track meet.

The unrivaled speed that Harvin demonstrated on the grid iron, track, and even the basketball court made him one of the most coveted high school recruits in the nation. In 2005 Percy was nationally recognized by respected football recruiting publications as being the top junior prospect in the country. Ultimately Harvin decided to play college football for the University of Florida over competing scholarship offers from perceived front runner Florida State University as well as the University of Miami, University of Southern California, and the University of Michigan.

Kim, the author of this article, does not know if Percy owns a pair of blue orange UF Gators slippers but considering the $14.5 million contract that he signed with the Minnesota Vikings on August 3, 2009 he can certainly afford a couple of pairs of comfortable University of Florida slippers.

Readers interested in getting their own orange, blue, or green Florida slippers are encouraged check out the links in the previous paragraph.

The Florida Gators football team, of the Southeastern Conference, was the 2008 national champion. The Florida Gators are well-known to all sports fanatics and the stadium they play in, the Ben Hill Griffin Stadium is known as one of the hardest places for the competition to play. With Urban Meyer as the head coach and with Tim Tebow, a Heisman Winner, the team can definitely fight its way to the top next year and another championship win wouldn't be far out of reach. In 2008, the University of Florida Gators beat the Oklahoma Sooners at the Orange Bowl to capture their second championship in three years.

With the great leadership shown by Urban Meyer I believe that a win is in the cards for the school, especially if they start the season strong. They have an excellent coach and they have a lot of returning players as well as some guys who have signed up with the team that were specifically recruited. This coming fall, the Gators have the potential to win it all again with Tim Tebow throwing for them again.

Along with its returning stars, Florida has the nationally 10th ranked recruiting class to help secure its chances at another championship run. With star underclassman Percy Harvin going to the NFL draft, Coach Meyer landed five-star receiver Andre Debose from Sanford, Fl. Debose will have an immediate impact and the loss of Harvin won't be as painful. "He's as good as there is," Meyer said. "I think he's the best player in America. You watch him on film, for what we do, for our style of offense, for what we need right now with the departure of Percy Harvin... that's a crucial element. We're not going to change our offense."

Andre Debose isn't the only attention grabber the Gators roped in this year. They brought in the highest rated outside linebacker and 10th overall prospect with Jelani Jenkins of Olney, Md, who runs a 4.4 40 yard dash and also has a 4.0 grade point average which will help ensure he won't be academically ineligible. Jenkins will more than likely be a captain before long. They also brought in the nationally ranked 2nd best defensive tackle with Gary Brown from Greensboro, Fl, who accrued more than 40 sacks over his final two seasons at West Gadsden High. As if Florida hadn't beefed up their defense enough with these two, they got Jon Bostic from Wellington, Fl, the nationally ranked 5th best inside linebacker and the son of former Detroit Lions defensive back Jon Bostic Sr. However, with the return of star senior middle linebacker Brandon Spikes, Bostic likely won't get much playing time right away.

Despite losing a pair of commitments, receiver Nu'Keese Richardson and cornerback Marsalis Teague, to SEC East rival Tennessee, Florida is looking good. With a retention that shows all 11 starters on defense and seven starters on offense, including quarterback Tim Tebow and linebacker Brandon Spikes returning for their senior seasons, the Gators have the best chance at being National Champions in 2009.

Writer and editor, Freddie Brister, is a former high school football coach of 25 years. His love of the game of football is reflected in his words and memories of growing up in the South and playing football in the back yard with his brother, cousins and neighborhood friends. His biggest thrill is watching former high school players he has coached play at the college level. His favorite pastime is watching college football on tv and attending the games in person every chance he gets. Freddie Brister is a huge fan of the SEC and the Florida Gators. Check out his Florida Gators Belt or his Florida Gators Swimwear