Our old friend Kevin Seifertwas among the reporters who gota chance to talk to Bryant McKinnielate this afternoonin South Florida andhe has posted a very interesting item on his NFC North blog on ESPN.com that clearly shows the Vikings left tackle feels the whole situation involving his dismissal from the Pro Bowl last week was blown out of proportion.
That's interesting because McKinnie's failure to show up at practices -- and for the team picture --not only got him kicked off the team but also led to criticism from many of his attitude toward the honor he had received. That's not to mention the lack of respect is appeared to show his teammates. But McKinnie, a first-time Pro Bowl selection, had little sympathy for the fact tackles David Diehl and Jason Peters had to play the entire game.
"Anyone who watched the game would know it wasn't like they were going that hard," McKinnie said. "If you watched the game,[the pass rushers]were stopping in front of the quarterback. I'm like, OK ..."
As for the amount of criticism his absence created, McKinnie said:
"I understand I missed it. But they tried to make it seem like it was because you were at the club and couldn't get up. No. I had called [agent Drew Rosenhaus] and told Drew I wanted to withdraw. I had taken a cortisone shot in my foot the week before the game. When you take that shot, it numbs whatever. You don't feel like you're hurt anymore. It was the New Orleans game. You feel like you're good on Wednesday.
"Yes, I did go out. I can go out and still get up the next morning. But my body started feeling a certain way. So I called Drew and I said, 'Idon't think I'm going to be able to play anymore,' because my body was hurting. I was trying to push myself to play. It was my first Pro Bowl, it was in Miami, so Igot to come back and play at home. [Rosenhaus] got in touch with the trainer. The trainer ended up calling me at 6:30 on Friday.
"I told him over the phone my problems. He said, 'Could you come see me in person?' Isaid Iwas 30 minutes away because Iwas down at the beach. He said he was going to dinner at 7 and Icould meet him at 9:30. I said, 'Yeah.' We were going to meet at 9:30. Then he called me and said, 'I'm running late. I'm going to give you another time to meet.'
"So me, in my mind, I already had talked to him, there's no need to go to practice. There's no reason to go to anything else."