Percy Harvin recently opened up about some of the problems that existed during his short tenure with the Seattle Seahawks. In short, Harvin said that some of his former teammates — specifically the wide receivers — were jealous of him from the moment he joined them.
Golden Tate, who supposedly butted heads with Harvin, insists that was never the case for him.
“There was never any jealousy on my end,” Tate told reporters on Monday, via Dave Birkett of The Detroit Free Press. “I was excited to get him on the field with us. Like I said, his role in Seattle and my role were different so there was no need for me to be jealous. I wanted to win a Super Bowl that year and that’s all I wanted, that’s all I cared about. I think it was just a misunderstanding between him and I and I know it didn’t work out with the Vikings, the Seahawks or the Jets, so I hope the best for him out there in Buffalo. I think it’s a great fit for him and I want to see him ball out.”
If Harvin truly did give Tate a black eye a couple of seasons ago, Tate is obviously downplaying the issues. Although, Tate claims everything was fine between the two after the Seahawks won the Super Bowl and visited the White House.
“We shook hands, actually went out that night, chopped it up a little bit, hung out,” Tate explained. “I don’t necessarily think we have a bad relationship, or didn’t at least. I mean, there’s no hard feelings. Like I said, I wish him the best. He’s one of the best players in this league. I want to see him ball out, personally. I want to see everybody ball out. And I’ll still be watching his film trying to learn some things.”
For what it’s worth, Harvin specifically mentioned Seahawks receiver Doug Baldwin when telling his side of the story last weekend. He alluded to Baldwin’s temper, which we all saw during the playoffs last season when Baldwin went ballistic on some reporters.
Harvin’s history of not getting along with teammates and coaches dates back before his NFL career. Because of the way things ended in Seattle and Minnesota, no one really has any expectations for him anymore. That could make Percy very dangerous in 2015.
