William Percival Harvin III was born in Chesapeake, Virginia, an area known for churning out stellar athletes. Percy ran the 40 in 4.32 his freshman year, led his high school team to a state championship his sophomore year, led his team to runner-up in the basketball state championships, and set four state track records. He took his talents south and played for Urban Meyer‘s Florida Gators, where Coach created a new, hybrid position for him affectionately known as “the Harvin position”. He made an immediate impact as a freshman, despite somewhat frequent injuries. Even with injuries that limited his plays against Tennessee, Alabama, LSU, and Florida State, he was named the SEC Freshman of the Year. In his sophomore year he averaged over 100 yards receiving or rushing in most of his games, but he was again limited by injuries or illness against South Carolina and Florida Atlantic. He did return to light up Florida State, and he did have stellar numbers in the Gators’ loss in the Capital One Bowl. He finished his sophomore season with 858 yards on 59 receptions with 4 touchdowns, plus 764 yards on 83 rushes for 6 touchdowns, making him the first Gator receiver in history with over 1,000 yards rushing and receiving in a career. For his efforts, he was named All-SEC as an all-purpose player and 2nd team as a receiver. After having surgery before his junior year, he was limited against Hawaii and Miami, but once again injured against FSU and Alabama. He redeemed himself by racking up 9 carries for 122 yards, 1 touchdown rushing, and 5 receptions for 49 yards receiving in the 2009 BCS National Championship victory over Oklahoma. He left Gainesville with 133 receptions for 1,929 yards and 13 touchdowns as receiver and 194 rushes for 1,852 yards and 19 touchdowns as running back. He averaged 9.5 yards per carry as a running back, 11.6 yards per touch as running back, receiver, or kick returner.
