Seahawks' Percy Harvin leaves drama back in Minnesota

Lindsay H. Jones | USA TODAY Sports

RENTON, Wash. -- Percy Harvin's next reception will be the most important catch of his life.

Harvin, the Seattle Seahawks' wide receiver, will become a first-time father, with his son due June 12, and Harvin is planning (with the blessing of his girlfriend and her doctor, of course) to be the one catching the child in the delivery room.

"I think it's going to be amazing," Harvin told USA TODAY Sports. "Ever since she's been pregnant, it's given me more of a sense of responsibility, as far as doing what I love to do. But I get to do it for my little man now."

Could it be? Could Harvin, one of the NFL's notorious problem children, be growing up?

This is the version of Harvin the Seahawks are just getting to know, three months after Seattle pulled off the biggest trade of the offseason when it sent three draft picks — including a first-rounder — to Minnesota to get the receiver, whose four-year tenure with the Vikings was marked by nearly as many squabbles as jaw-dropping plays.

Before finalizing the trade, Seattle head coach Pete Carroll and general manager John Schneider wanted to talk to Harvin face-to-face. An in-person meeting wasn't immediately possible, so they chatted over Skype, enabling them to see Harvin's face as they asked him difficult questions.

They already knew about Harvin's talent. And they knew about his run-ins with head coaches Brad Childress and Leslie Frazier, and about threatened holdouts and trade requests and contract whining. Mostly, they wanted to know if Harvin was a person they wanted in their locker room. They wanted to see if Harvin's answers meshed with the research they already had done by talking to former coaches and teammates.

Harvin, the Seahawks said, aced the interview.

"He was very clear with what his intentions were and what had gone on there," Carroll told USA TODAY Sports. "Knowing that he's a great competitor and that he loves to play and the game is really important to him – I was just trying to sense that, make sure that's still there, and that it was as we had hoped, you know? It was like it was a no-brainer. It was no challenge to figure that out. It came across loud and clear."

Part of Harvin's pitch also included genuine excitement about playing with second-year quarterback Russell Wilson, Schneider said.

"He was really into Russell. Around that time, Russell was organizing a bunch of guys to go to California to work out together, and that kind of blew (Harvin's) mind," Schneider said. "He thought that was really cool and was really excited about it."

By convincing Carroll and Schneider he would be the model pupil and teammate in Seattle, Harvin got exactly what he wanted: out of Minnesota, and a fat new contract that makes him one of the league's highest-paid receivers, behind only Calvin Johnson of the Detroit Lions, Larry Fitzgerald of the Arizona Cardinals and Mike Wallace of the Miami Dolphins. Harvin's deal is for $67 million over the next six years, including more than $25 million guaranteed.

With the trade, Seattle was able to add one of the NFL's most unique and dynamic receivers to an already a dangerous offense with Wilson and running back Marshawn Lynch. The Vikings were able to cut ties with a player they believed wasn't worth the headaches.

When it was all over, Harvin was surprised he ended up with a new contract while playing for a team with a real shot at being one of the best teams in the NFC this year.

"We knew it was a long, long shot. My agent, he said it could get ugly, and it did at times. But when I got that call (from Seattle), I just said it was a plus-plus for me, and I was going to make the best of it," Harvin said. "We just went in there hoping for the best, and we got the best situation, I felt. I'm loving it so far in this place."

Had the trade with Seattle — or any other team, for that matter — not worked out, Harvin said he would have been able to continue playing for Frazier in Minnesota. His insists relationships were not irreparably broken, despite a sideline confrontation with Frazier on the day he suffered his season-ending ankle injury in November, and a later private argument that was reported by ESPN 1500 radio in Minneapolis.

Harvin said he and Frazier have spoken on the phone since the trade, and that they have exchanged text messages within the last month about Harvin's impending fatherhood.

Now he's working on building a healthy relationship with his new head coach, whom he first met in 2005 when Carroll tried, unsuccessfully, to recruit Harvin to Southern California. What Carroll remembered about Harvin as a teenager, and has realized again now, is how intense Harvin's personality is when it comes to football.

Carroll and the Seattle staff, including offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell, who coached Harvin for two years in Minnesota, know Harvin's competitiveness often maifests in the form of outbursts. Carroll said Harvin isn't the only player whose temper can flare at times, but it's his job as the team's head coach to keep Harvin – and the rest of his players – emotionally balanced.

"I'm watching him. We're looking after him and making sure he's taken care of, and making sure he's understanding what's expected and that there is no gray area in there. You build a level of trust, so that when something comes up and there are issues or whatever, we can deal with it," Carroll said.

"We do have to monitor it, because it can get the best of you at times, myself included. We all have to work with one another to make sure we're staying at that really high pitch, but don't cross the line to where we get out whack, and we don't perform like we're capable."

Harvin, for his part, said he's as happy and as healthy as he has been in years. The ankle injury that landed him on injured reserve in December has healed, and he is practicing fully in Seattle without any setbacks. His happiness, he said, comes both from the new chapter in his personal life, but also from feeling wanted and appreciated in Seattle, where his coaches and teammates are intrigued about how to fit his unique skills into their already dynamic offense.

"He's so explosive when he plays," Wilson said. "He just adds a lot – his consistency, his playmaker ability. We already had that, so to add another one, it's really exciting. You add him in there, it's pretty awesome."

So far, Harvin has practiced as a slot receiver, outside receiver, running back and kick returner. He sees similarities to how he was used under Bevell in 2009 and 2010 in Minnesota, and also has had some flashbacks to his time at Florida, where he was the X-factor in the Gators' read-option offense. Seattle will hold its mandatory minicamp this week.

"We're always trying to find unique qualities in our guys, and then hopefully express that in our play," Carroll said. "He's a different athlete, because not only is he so fast, but he's steel strong. Just really tough, physical for a guy who only weighs 197 pounds

"We hope to see him catch the ball on the move, so he can use his stuff. That doesn't mean we give him the ball in the backfield just to hand it to him, we want to throw the ball to him all over the field. It's not going to change our football team in terms of what we want to do, we're just going to add him in and cut him loose, let him go."