Seahawks WR Percy Harvin ruled out for NFC Championship game with concussion

It's been a rough year for Percy Harvin, unable to stay on the field through several injuries. (Ted S. Warren/AP) The Seattle Seahawks will face the San

Doug Farrar | Jan 17, 2014

Seahawks WR Percy Harvin ruled out for NFC Championship game with concussion /

It's been a rough year for Percy Harvin, unable to stay on the field through several injuries. (Ted S. Warren/AP)

The Seattle Seahawks will face the San Francisco 49ers for the NFC championship Sunday afternoon without one of their most talented offensive weapons in receiver Percy Harvin, who was ruled out due to the concussion he suffered against the New Orleans Saints in the divisional round. Harvin, acquired from the Minnesota Vikings for Seattle's first-round pick in 2013, missed all but 20 snaps of the regular season with a hip injury and played just 19 snaps against the Saints before he had to leave the game following two hard hits.

“He’s still going through the process -- the protocols as we call it -- and we don’t know," head coach Pete Carroll said of Harvin's status on Thursday. "We don’t know anything yet.”

They know now, and it's been announced. Harvin managed to get back in the game after an early collision with Saints safety Rafael Bush had him looking woozy. However, an incomplete pass from Wilson in the second quarter led to a smackdown from Saints safety Malcolm Jenkins, and Harvin’s day was officially done.

“The poor kid,” Carroll said. “He finally gets to play, and he banged his head against the turf real hard. He was OK the first time, but the second one really rocked him. He was battling, did a good job and gave us a little spark.”

The Seahawks, who signed Harvin to a six-year, $67 million contract with $25.5 million guaranteed after the trade, hoped Harvin would put them over the top with his speed and athleticism. But the hip injury, suffered at the start of the team's training camp, stole that opportunity with the exception of the Saints game and a few plays against the Vikings on Nov. 17. In that game, Harvin caught one pass for 17 yards and returned a kick for 58 yards, proving that when he is healthy, Harvin is one of the most explosive athletes in the NFL.

Sadly for the Seahawks, "when he is healthy" has proven to be a rather stern qualifier.

CHAMPIONSHIP SUNDAY PLAYBOOK: Previewing Seahawks-49ers, Broncos-Patriots

Published Jan 17, 2014

DOUG FARRAR

SI.com contributing NFL writer and Seattle resident Doug Farrar started writing about football locally in 2002, and became Football Outsiders' West Coast NFL guy in 2006. He was fascinated by FO's idea to combine Bill James with Dr. Z, and wrote for the site for six years. He wrote a game-tape column called "Cover-2" for a number of years, and contributed to six editions of "Pro Football Prospectus" and the "Football Outsiders Almanac." In 2009, Doug was invited to join Yahoo Sports' NFL team, and covered Senior Bowls, scouting combines, Super Bowls, and all sorts of other things for Yahoo Sports and the Shutdown Corner blog through June, 2013. Doug received the proverbial offer he couldn't refuse from SI.com in 2013, and that was that. Doug has also written for the Seattle Times, the Washington Post, the New York Sun, FOX Sports, ESPN.com, and ESPN The Magazine. He also makes regular appearances on several local and national radio shows, and has hosted several podcasts over the years. He counts Dan Jenkins, Thomas Boswell, Frank Deford, Ralph Wiley, Peter King, and Bill Simmons as the writers who made him want to do this for a living. In his rare off-time, Doug can be found reading, hiking, working out, searching for new Hendrix, Who, and MC5 bootlegs, and wondering if the Mariners will ever be good again.