Former Receiver Percy Harvin Says ‘The Timing Is Right’ To Return To The NFL

Former NFL receiver Percy Harvin is eyeing a return to the NFL after a three-year absence that stemmed from the second retirement of his career in 2017 due to nagging injuries. In a conversation with ESPN’s Josina Anderson, Harvin claimed that he’s “ready to return to the NFL.”

“I thought I was done, but that itch came back,” Harvin told Anderson on Tuesday. Harvin’s first retirement was in April 2016 but he returned in November 2016 on a one-year deal with the Buffalo Bills. In March 2017, however, he retired again following the team’s decision to place him on the non-football illness list due to complications with migraine headaches.

Harvin had hip surgery in August when doctors found a blockage that might have been there since he was in high school. Prior to the operation, Harvin reportedly had to lay on his floor to feel comfortable and was unable to walk upstairs without holding onto the railing. He later mentioned he’s been training with a former Olympian and now weighs 185 pounds. Harvin prefers signing with “any offense that’ll just let me go.”

“My body is feeling good,” Harvin told Anderson. “Mentally I’m better. My family is good. The timing is right.”

Harvin’s injuries were definitely the reason he hasn’t played since 2016 but he says he never officially retired. “I knew I wasn’t functioning right, not only physically, just all around the board,” he told Anderson. “I had to get in contact with myself.”

Harvin previously admitted to smoking marijuana before every game to deal with his migraines and anxiety disorder in an October interview with Bleacher Report. “The only thing that really seemed to work is when I would smoke marijuana,” Harvin said. “There’s not a game that I played in that I wasn’t high.”

Harvin added that his anxiety was at its worst upon his arrival in Seattle and was one of the main factors that contributed to him hitting former teammate Golden Tate in the locker room during the week of Super Bowl 48 in 2013. “Thinking about it now, I can’t even believe I did it,” Harvin said in October. Tate was asked about how Harvin’s return from a concussion in the previous game would impact the team going forward. He said the team was able to win without him and would be fine if he didn’t play in the Super Bowl. The altercation caused teammates and coaches to separate the two players while Marshawn Lynch acted as a “peacemaker” to reduce the tension, Harvin said.

Now, he’ll have to wait and see if teams are willing to take a chance on a player who turns 32 in May.

“The need for guys that can catch the ball and create after the catch is always at a premium in the NFL,” Harvin’s agent Alvin Keels said. “I would be shocked if he isn’t invited into someone’s camp. Wouldn’t you? It’s going to be important that he conveys to the league that he’s 100% all-in mentally,” Keels added. “I think the nagging injuries got to him in Buffalo and he checked out. He was dealing with some stuff mentally that sent him into a depression. I think the time off was actually good for him. I think he needed it and he’s ready.”