It was typical day during organized team activities in June 2016, and Vikings guard Mike Harris was battling to keep his starting job. Following a practice, he returned to his home in Eden Prairie to study on his iPad.

Suddenly, everything changed.

“I felt like I was having a stroke,” Harris told the Pioneer Press on Tuesday. “I got home and I just remember being on my iPad and my vision went blurry, went double. I couldn’t see.”

A friend rushed Harris to Winter Park, and he was looked at by Vikings medical personnel with the initial thought that it was a concussion. It wasn’t.

Tests conducted by the Mayo Clinic in Rochester determined Harris had a congenital condition known as brain arteriovenous malformation (AVM). The Mayo Clinic website describes it as “a tangle of abnormal blood vessels connecting arteries and veins in the brain.”

It wasn’t initially thought to be career ending. When Harris arrived for training camp in July 2016, he was put on the non-football illness list and had hopes of returning that season.

That didn’t happen, and the Vikings waived Harris in February. He hoped to hook on with another team, but those thoughts ended during the summer when Harris returned to the Mayo Clinic and was told by doctors he shouldn’t play again.

Harris, providing details to a reporter Tuesday for the first time on his health, said he will file retirement papers with the NFL next month. His career is over after five seasons, the final three with Minnesota. He started all 16 games for the Vikings during their NFC North title season of 2015. Related Articles Despite veteran lineup, Vikings’ offense has been horrendous

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He is expected to lead a normal life. Harris is scheduled to have a procedure done at the Mayo Clinic in about a month, and he said he’s been told by doctors there is less than a 5 percent chance of having a recurrence of AVM.

“For a long time, I was really depressed about the whole situation. But I finally am in the light,” Harris said. “At the end of the day, I want to live to be a grown man. Football gave me a good life. I had been playing since I was 10 years old.

“When it first happened, I didn’t want to talk to the media and any of my teammates, but I’m in a better place now. It took a while, but I know my life comes over football.’’

After Harris was put on the NFI list in July 2016 and through the remainder of his tenure with the team, the Vikings declined to give any details on his medical situation. They were under no obligation to pay Harris for the 2016 season, but he said they agreed to give him $400,000 of his $1.9 million base salary. He already had earned a $100,000 workout bonus for the spring.

“They didn’t have to (pay), but my agent and me, we very much appreciate it,” said Harris, who made about $3.5 million his NFL career. “I’ve done well with my money. There are no hard feelings. I still love this organization. I went to each home game this year so far.”

Harris, 28, is a California native but has elected to remain in Minnesota, where he has been since the Vikings claimed him on waivers in 2014 following two seasons with San Diego. He graduated from UCLA with a history degree, and is planning his next career move. He is considering going into coaching or fitness training.

“It’s unfortunate my career has come to an end, but I’m just happy I can walk on my own two feet and I can be there for my family in my future,” he said.

Prior to June 2016, Harris said he had no problems related to AVM.

“It was totally non-football related,” he said. “It was like a malformation. They did a CT scan and they found it.”

Harris said he had vision problems for several weeks but didn’t require hospitalization. He said scar tissue has formed, and doctors want to eliminate that with Gamma Knife radiosurgery.

“(The procedure) is like a laser to fix it,’’ he said. “It will take like 20 minutes.’’

Harris said he feels good and has been working out at an athletic club and doing Jiu-Jitsu. But the rigors of football would be too much.

“The doctors say that at my position, the hard hits you take to the head brings up too much risk,” he said.

Harris started 33 of the 48 NFL games he played. He said it hurts because he knows if he were healthy, he could help a team. But as time goes by, he feels better and better about his career.

“I was (a starter) the year Adrian (Peterson) got the rushing title, and we won the NFC North title,” Harris said. “I’ll always be a part of that championship and the banner that hangs at the facility. The NFL has given me a good kick start on life. I’ll be good. I know I’m a smart guy and football turned me into a competitor and a hard worker, and I think it will work out for me.”