Mike Florio questions Percy Harvin's migraines with no evidence
Mike Florio has built Pro Football Talk into one of the biggest success stories of the internet age in sports. Not only is PFT one of the most visited sites on the web, but Florio himself has expanded his personal brand into a contributor on America's most watched show - Sunday Night Football. He's as much of a national NFL insider and reporter as Peter King, Adam Schefter, or Jay Glazer.
But Mike Florio still pulls some dumb stunts.
The most recent example in a long line of questionable Florio posts is this tweet yesterday concerning former Vikings and current Seahawks receiver Percy Harvin. Florio speculated that because of Harvin's divorce with the Vikings, he was somehow faking the migraine problems that had plagued his early career in Minnesota...
Magically disappeared? Is that a position Florio really wanted to endorse? (After all he doesn't have the disclaimer that RTs aren't necessarily endorsements.) I didn't know that's what they practiced at the Mayo Clinic, the place Harvin went to get treated for sleep apnea after collapsing at a Vikings practice in 2010. Then again, maybe Percy Harvin faked his collapse too. Harvin's migraines caused him to miss two games at Florida and he's said to have battled them since middle school as well. Then again, maybe he was faking them in middle school to get out of a math test or something.
NFL Network's Rich Eisen took note of Florio's antics and sent this delightfully passive-aggressive tweet lobbed in Florio's general direction.
Of course Eisen is 100% correct in his criticism. Could you imagine Jay Glazer or Chris Mortensen basically saying, "is it wrong to wonder about the severity of RGIII's knee injury?" Just because you can't see a migraine or sleep apnea doesn't mean they aren't serious medical issues. I suffered from sporadic migraines for a brief period of time several years ago and then they went away. Thankfully I didn't collapse or anything, but it was brutal and some of the worst pain I've ever experienced, and there was no explanation for it. To even speculate or "throw out there" that Percy Harvin would fake that throughout his life and NFL career is the height of recklessness.
What's even more bizarre about this is a PFT story today (not written by Florio) that talks about Harvin not suffering from a migraine in two years thanks to the sleep apnea treatment that raises no questions or suspicions at all. Quite the change of tune from wondering whether or not they were real, which is a ludicrous position for someone who wants to be taken seriously alongside the top NFL reporters in the business. Mike Florio has to be better than that.
@awfulannouncing I questioned Florio's ethics 2 weeks ago and I got this response pic.twitter.com\/fAjp2nN3nZ3nZ
@awfulannouncing good on @richeisen. Florio is just an empty suit, sitting in his ivory tower full of pot shots
@awfulannouncing Some of the media guys should be released after Free Agency...They have been embarassing
I wouldn't wish my migraine pain on anyone, but after hearing about this I wouldn't mind that much if Mr. Florio had just one episode in his lifetime. Just so that sarcastic and patronizing people could appreciate how it feels when their head is about to explode, for hours on end.
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Thank you ever so much for speaking out about this. I've lived with episodic migraine since age 6 (25+ years) and chronic migraine for 10 years. I've been saddened by the ignorant comments I've seen about Harvin's situation. There has been some great reporting, but these ignorant, ill-informed comments do nothing but reinforce stereotypes and stigma, which is the last thing we need as migraineurs. Recent research by Dr. Bill Young at the Jefferson Headache Clinic has established that migraine is one of the most stigmatized conditions. Period.
And it's not exactly a secret that Harvin's diagnosis of sleep apnea and being given a CPAP machine turned it around for him. I'm jealous that it was so seemingly simple for him (compared to my situation), but I'm happy for him nonetheless.
I've had to deal with Migraines, dizziness, and blackouts due to health issues for years. It's something people don't realize you have to deal with until they see it for themselves. It's not something people would fake. It's a punishment that I don't wish on anyone.
@MikeStrawQCS The really sad and upsetting thing is that some a-holes DO fake it. Argh!
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Dealing with migraines as a sportswriter is not fun, I can only imagine how much worse it would be as an athlete. Shame on Florio, this was just stupid.
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For his sake, I hope Florio never has to deal with having migraines. They are a hell like no other, a pulsating source of inescapable, nauseating pain that radiates from inside of your head.
