7 Days of Draftsmas: Percy Harvin Did Test Positive for Pot at Combine

About a month ago, the website NFLDraftbible.com began throwing out names of players they believed had tested positive for drugs at the combine, a list that included everyone from USC linebacker Clay Matthews to Boston College DT B.J. Raji to Florida WR Percy Harvin.  Unfortunately for the reputation, and perhaps future survival, of that particular site, the report turned out to be erroneous in almost every case, and now such exonerated players as Matthews and Raji are seeing their draft stock recover from the temporary hit laid on it by their inclusion in the questionable website postings.  One guy who will not be receiving the benefit of such an exoneration, however, is Percy Harvin, who, it has now been confirmed, indeed tested positive for marijuana at the combine, along with North Carolina receiver Brandon Tate.

This positive test, along with numerous other accounts of Harvin’s questionable attitude and coachability while at Florida, has all but scuttled any shot the receiver had at being taken in the first round, either by the Vikings at #22 or anywhere else. Is this just?  You can argue that marijuana laws are by themselves unjust and silly, and I would tend to agree, but that isn’t really the issue here.  Wrong or right, the rules exist, and the guys know ahead of time that they’re going to be tested.  Harvin had every chance in the world to lay off the weed and pee clean at the combine, but was either too dumb or arrogant to do so.  There’s also the fact that, if a guy tests positive at the combine then gets drafted, he comes into the league with a strike against him in the league’s substance abuse policy.  Why should a team spend a first-round pick on a guy who not only lacks the self-discipline to stay clean for the test but already stands just one violation away from getting suspended? There’s no reason to.  Harvin is a bad risk and I wouldn’t take him.  I hope it was a good smoke.