SEATTLE -- Receiver Percy Harvin just kept nagging Pete Carroll until the Seattle Seahawks coach finally gave in.

In his debut game with the Seahawks (a 41-20 victory over the Minnesota Vikings), Harvin wanted to return kickoffs against his former team. Carroll wanted him to wait one more game.

Percy Harvin begged his way onto the field for a kickoff return. Joe Nicholson/USA TODAY Sports

"But I kept drilling him and drilling him about it," Harvin said. "I had the guys upstairs in the [coaches] box yelling at him."

And Carroll relented.

"I don't know what happened or who did what," Harvin said. "But he ran and shouted at me and said, ‘Get your tail in there.'"

Did Carroll really say tail?

"Well, we'll leave that for the locker room," Harvin said with a laugh.

Late in the second quarter, Harvin got his chance and he made the most of it. He caught the ball four yards deep in the end zone, raced up the middle, found an opening and zoomed 58 yards to the Minnesota 46 before he was stopped.

"It was like magic watching that," Seattle defensive tackle Clinton McDonald said. "That's the fastest guy I've ever seen on a football field."

"Man, that kickoff looked like everybody else was in slow motion except Percy," Seattle free safety Earl Thomas said. "He showed why he's a superstar in this league."

It set up a 19-yard touchdown catch by Doug Baldwin at the end of the half that gave the Seahawks a 24-13 lead at the break. And it gave the team and the fans a glimpse of why the Seahawks were willing to give up so much to get Harvin.

But Harvin probably wouldn't have been back there for the kickoff if Jermaine Kearse had been healthy. In what may be the strangest "tackle" of the season, Kearse was running full speed on a first-quarter kickoff when he slammed into Seattle's J.R. Sweezy like he was hitting a brick wall. Kearse was helped off the field and did not return to the game because of concussion symptoms.

"Even when Kearse went down, Pete said he still wasn't sure about it," Harvin said. "It's been a work-in-progress all week between me telling him and even some of my teammates and coaches telling him."

On the next kickoff after Kearse's injury, Carroll had running back Robert Turbin as the return man. When he got the call, Harvin tried to be a little secretive.

"I don't think [the Vikings] knew I was going to be back there," Harvin said, "so I kind of tried to sneak back there, figuring once he lined up to kick he was going to kick it [deep]. I just was hoping he didn't kick it out of the end zone."

The kick return was a dramatic moment, but Harvin also had an impressive reception in the second quarter that kept a touchdown drive alive. On a third-and-10 at the Seattle 44, Wilson found him in the left flat, but the ball was slightly overthrown. Harvin reached up and got the ball with the tip of his fingers, bringing it down as he fell to the turf for a 17-yard gain.

"The thing about Percy is he draws attention," said Wilson, meaning he creates opening elsewhere. "He's so fast. He can do it all. He just elevates our offense."

Harvin said the Seahawks offense and Wilson can elevate his game.

"This offense is just the opposite [of Minnesota)," Harvin said. "It spreads the field and allows you to make big plays. And I've been in love with Russell since I first got here. He makes everyone feel so comfortable out there because he knows the offense so well and he's in control of everything."

Harvin brought up a situation few people know about last year. When he had an appendectomy in November, doctors found a benign tumor on his appendix.

"I've been through a lot besides the hip surgery," he said. ‘‘So it was an enjoyable feeling to get back out there. I wanted to see where I was at. Today was the test everyone wanted to see. I don't see any more setbacks. I'm looking to take off from here."