You ever watch sports on TV and wonder, maybe after a poor decision or an untimely mishap: Is this guy high?
Well, the answer would have been a resounding “yes” in the case of Percy Harvin.
The former NFL wide receiver revealed in a recent podcast with Bleacher Report’s Master Tesfatsion that he smoked weed before every game he played in the league. According to Harvin, the marijuana helped combat his anxiety disorder.
“Now you’re looking at a guy that — I was at the Mayo Clinic. And I had at least seven prescriptions that I was to take, from Zoloft to all the other ones I was taking,” Harvin said. “And the only thing that really seemed to work is when I would smoke marijuana.”
Harvin, a first-round pick of the Minnesota Vikings in 2009, had a relatively successful NFL career. He earned Rookie of the Year honors upon entering the league — as well as a Pro Bowl selection and an All-Pro nod — and won a Super Bowl with the Seattle Seahawks in February 2014.
Still, underneath the surface, Harvin battled anxiety, which he admits played a role in him fighting Seahawks teammate Golden Tate before Seattle’s Super Bowl XLVIII victory over the Denver Broncos. And lighting up before games apparently helped alleviate the psychological turmoil.
“There’s not a game — there’s not a game I played in that I wasn’t high,” Harvin said. “And that’s what I want the world to kinda see today — is it’s not a stigma, and people doing it and getting in a whole bunch of trouble. It’s people that are just living a regular life that just got deficiencies or just maybe wanna enjoy themselves. It’s a natural way to do so.”
Harvin, now 31, played for the New York Jets and Buffalo Bills in addition to the Vikings and Seahawks. He last appeared in the NFL with Buffalo during the 2016 season.
