Never has one ligament cost an athlete this much money and fame.
If Percy Harvin's ankle had held up for this entire year, Tim Tebow would have a teammate to listen to his Kenny Chesney tunes on the way to New York for the Heisman ceremony.
Harvin would also be grinning after an NFL team took him with a top-10 pick. UF's junior speedster may still end up a top-10 pick and make what would have been a Heisman run end up looking as trivial as The Citadel game.
Here's the deal: Tebow has not been UF's most explosive player this season. It's been Harvin - just ask opponents' defenses. And if he had been healthy throughout the entire year - and if the Gators had actually kept a few games close and given Harvin more touches - he would be a Heisman finalist and a guaranteed top NFL pick in April.
Now, when teams talk to Harvin, they'll care less about his 40-yard dash and more about that big slash from his ankle surgery.
Harvin's a risk regardless of his health. Can a player in his mold be successful in the NFL? Not bulky enough to be a running back and not big enough for a wide receiver? Who cares? Some team would be pacing its draft-room floor waiting to see if it would get him. Name more than 10 players in the NFL who can do what Harvin does.
Now name 10 college football players who have been more injury-prone than Harvin.
It's sad, really. Harvin came to UF with only the NFL on his mind. He'll leave UF caring more about his school and his teammates than he ever thought he would - he's not the self-centered player he was when he came here. He'll also leave with injuries that will cost him millions in guaranteed money.
A healthy Percy Harvin who had more touches would be remembered as a Reggie Bush in receiver form. There's a reason why, after Tebow won the Heisman last year, Urban Meyer said to Harvin, "You're next." At least that's the rumor.
True or false, Harvin has shown he may be the most explosive player in college football. While Tebow does the leading, Harvin does the speeding.
Tebow is successful because he wills himself to be. Harvin is successful because he only has to stumble out of bed and put his pads on the right way.
Harvin is the more talented player and, as much as Tebow has meant to this program, deserves just as much to be a Heisman nominee this season as Tebow. He's as exceptional an athlete as there has been in college football in a long time. The last time there was an athlete this good in college football, George Bush was on TV convincing us our country needed to go into Iraq.
NFL scouts will be whispering to themselves, watching as Harvin sprints out of the tunnel on Saturday as the entire Alabama fan section lets out a groan. He will play. And, maybe, he'll suppress those injury critics. He has run out of time to try to, and this is his last chance.
Don't be surprised if he does. There's a lot of time to rest a bad ankle before a national championship game.
