Harvin requests trade, skips Vikings practice

Published 9:22 am Thursday, June 21, 2012

EDEN PRAIRIE — Percy Harvin was nowhere to be found at the Minnesota Vikings’ mandatory minicamp practice Wednesday afternoon, and no one seems to know when the star receiver will be back in purple.

Unhappy with several issues with the team that drafted him in the first round in 2009, Harvin requested a trade, a person with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.

After participating in a light walk-through practice on Wednesday morning with his teammates, Harvin wasn’t present for the full afternoon practice. Head coach Leslie Frazier declined to go into detail on Harvin’s absence and said he wasn’t sure if one of the team’s most important players would be around for the final day today.

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“We’re going to talk more in detail,” Frazier said. “We have a lot of things to talk about.”

Vikings GM Rick Spielman said the organization considers Harvin a cornerstone player and will work to resolve any issues that have upset him.

“We have no interest at all in trading Percy Harvin,” Spielman said. “We drafted Percy Harvin here. He’s a key part of our organization. He’s a key part of our football team. Any issues that are out there, or reported, we always handle those internally, and we’ll continue to handle those internally.”