| DaKCMan AP |
08-06-2008 12:06 PM |
More on Harvin:
Quote:
A really good player when injured, Harvin vows he'll be even better
By Kyle Tucker
The Virginian-Pilot
© August 5, 2008
Here's a scary thought: Percy Harvin says he's been gimpy the last two seasons.
He says he had a bum wheel in 2006, when he was voted the Southeastern Conference's Freshman of the Year and helped the University of Florida win a national title. He claims he was hurting in 2007, when he was a first-team All-American.
No, seriously, the former Landstown High star says he had 1,285 yards in receptions, rushed for 1,192 more yards and averaged 11.4 yards per touch in college... all with a mysterious heel injury.
"I didn't feel right for years," he said.
That's not really even the scary part. This is: He says he's healthy these days.
"Oh, I'm real good now," Harvin said recently. "I'm running straight ahead almost full speed. I just have to get my cutting back, but I'll be ready. This surgery changed everything."
Harvin isn't sure about the name of the surgery he had after last season. Florida has been fairly vague about it. This much is known: A right heel injury, previously diagnosed as simple tendinitis, hampered Harvin for three years, dating to high school.
Some have questioned Harvin's durability in college; he missed practices and game time in each of his first two seasons with a laundry list of minor ailments, including migraines.
Most of it, he said, was really the heel.
"My other injuries were coming from me overcompensating," Harvin said. "Once they figured out what was really wrong, we had to call doctors all over the country to find one who could do the surgery.
"I think I was the first person in the country to have that surgery."
Whatever the procedure, however rare, Harvin has recovered nicely. He said two weeks ago that he was 90 percent, adding, "I don't even know what 100 percent is. The sky is the limit now."
Florida coach Urban Meyer said he doesn't expect any more issues with the heel. He also thinks Harvin will answer any remaining questions about his durability when the junior unveils his new body this fall. At SEC Media Days this summer, Meyer remarked, "We rocked him up."
Harvin now weighs more than 200 pounds, up from 185, and reportedly bench presses more than 400. To go with his elite speed and quickness, Harvin is now one of the strongest pound-for-pound players on his team.
"Part of you wants to line him up at tailback and let him go," Meyer told reporters. "I think he would be one of the best tailbacks in the country. Handing him the football, getting him the ball, is going to be a big part of our offense."
Harvin said the Gators' first goal this season is an SEC title. But for Florida, ranked fifth in the preseason coaches' poll, there's always hope for more.
"Definitely," Harvin said. "We want that national title. We've got a lot of the missing pieces now in place. With our team chemistry right now, this should be one of those ridiculous-type years."
So ridiculous, in fact, that it isn't out of the realm of possibility that Harvin and his quarterback, Tim Tebow, could end up in New York in December as Heisman finalists. Tebow won it last year.
A teammate tandem has precedence. Former Southern California quarterback Matt Leinart won the Heisman in 2004, then moved over for Trojan running back/receiver Reggie Bush to win it the next year.
"I try not to think too much about that," Harvin said. "If you ask me, I'll say (Tebow) should win it. Ask him, he'll say I should. But the Heisman's not our real goal. It's that championship."
The hardware will be sorted out soon enough. For now, the facts are these: Harvin is healthy. The Gators are good.
And he'd like to add one more: "We expect to score every time we step on the field. We'll be a force to be reckoned with."
Kyle Tucker, (757) 446-2374, [email protected]
http://hamptonroads.com/2008/08/real...be-even-better
|
|
Draftniks... Who are top 10 prospects to watch this College Football season?
(https://chiefsplanet.com/BB/showthread.php?t=187983)