Posts tagged: bryant mckinnie

Question Of The Week: Former Vikings In The Super Bowl

January 29, 2013, by 18 comments

Here is an interesting topic for us during this Super Bowl Week that doesn’t involve Ray Lewis, murder, deer antler spray, brother-on-brother action, Joe Flacco’s political incorrectness, or a diva tight end’s complaints about how he is being used.

Instead, I want to know who you are cheering for in the upcoming contest and which former Vikings you would most like to see get a Super Bowl ring.

Randy Moss hasn’t exactly been a juggernaut reminiscent on the 1998 version of himself, but if you are like the then you still have a soft spot in your heart for the seldom used 49er receiver that once made Minnesota the most exciting football team to watch.

Playing for the Ravens, though, are two guys that were once considered to be mainstays along the offensive line in Minnesota.  Matt Birk and Bryant McKinnie are both playing for Baltimore on Sunday.  They left two very different legacies behind in Minnesota, and McKinnie may actually be cheered against by some Vikings fans, but it is hard to imagine a more deserving-of-a-ring player than Matt Birk.

So, what do you have to say?

Vikings News Roundup

July 12, 2012, by 6 comments

Let’s do a little synopsis, if you will, of what’s been going in Vikings world. There hasn’t been tons happening that doesn’t involve the Houston Police Department, but I thought it would be a good idea to cover some of the smaller stories that we haven’t really touched on yet here at Vikings Territory.

So, here we go:

New Stadium Retractable Roof

It’s been a while since we’ve talked about the stadium here. There hasn’t been tons happening since the stadium bill was passed a couple months ago, but there is some news regarding the roof. Yesterday, Lester Bagley, Vikings VP, told Bob Sansevere of the Pioneer Press that while, as of right now, the design is for a fixed-roof facility, if they can cut costs their goal is to have a retractable roof feature. Now, while that sounds great, I probably wouldn’t get your hopes up. If the retractable roof is not currently in the (almost) 1 billion dollar budget, it probably won’t find its way in unless it gets funded some other way. These things almost always come in over budget and stuff ends up getting value engineered out (not in). While it would be nice to have a “portion of the roof that can be opened to view downtown,” I just don’t know how likely it is since it wasn’t in the original scope.

McKinnie Says Vikings Exaggerated About His Weight

Bryant McKinnie is trying to melt off his extra weight before training camp… again. It seems like this is a yearly story with this guy. Anyway, when speaking with a reporter from the Baltimore Sun about being released by the Vikings because he “weighed 400 pounds at the time,” McKinnie said, “I never was… That was exaggerated by the Vikings.” Instead, McKinnie claims he was only 386 pounds when he was at his highest. That is a huge difference!

Josh Gordon Via Supplemental Draft

The Supplemental Draft takes place this afternoon and it is unknown how involved the Vikings will be. What is known, though, is that the organization has shown interest in a receiver named Josh Gordon who will likely cost a third round pick to obtain. The Vikings attended the wide out’s “pro day” earlier this week and, despite having made multiple moves during the offseason at the position, still have a need for a sure deep threat receiver who can stretch the field. Gordon, the former Baylor receiver, is 6’4”, 200 pounds and has been said to have 4.3 speed. Those are the type of intangibles that are sure to catch any teams’ eye. Gordon does not come without some concerns, though. While at Baylor, he was arrested for marijuana possession. That infraction got him transferred to Utah where he sat out the entire 2011 season.

We’ll know later this afternoon whether or not the Vikings obtain Gordon’s services. I’m going to predict the Vikings will pass on this one, though. While the Vikings took a similar risk on, future Hall of Famer, Cris Carter, I’m not sure the organization will be willing to give up a third round pick for an unproven receiver with character concerns after just spending two fourth round picks on young receivers as well as signing Jerome Simpson over the offseason. Stay tuned on this one, though.

Everson Griffen At Linebacker

Tom Pelissero from ESPN 1500 is reporting that when Everson Griffen reports to training camp in a few weeks, it will be as a linebacker.

AP & HPD: More Details

There are some new details in the Adrian Peterson case involving high-profile attorneys, black eyes, denials, etc… If you’re interested, this article by Dan Wiederer at the Star Tribune does a good job of outlining everything that’s happened so far.

Roll Call

Not really Vikings related but, one of our readers had a good idea to host a little “roll call” at the VT Forums. You should head over and let everyone know where you’re from. It would be cool to know a little bit more about our great readers.

That’s it for now. We’ll keep you updated if anything happens this afternoon in the Supplemental Draft.

Links Of The Week: OTAs End

June 17, 2012, by 2 comments

Mike Wobschall from Vikings.com makes some observations from OTA #7. In one note, “Wobby” describes plays where both Christian Ponder and Joe Webb are scrambling to the right. Don’t like to hear that our QBs are still fleeing from pressure but glad that they’re able to if their hand is forced. There are also some great notes for OTAs #4-6.

Jared Allen is awesome. Watch Allen’s latest charitable event “Night Ops Golf” here on Youtube.

Stop the press. Everyone’s favorite hip-hop entrepreneur Bryant McKinnie showed up to camp phat. (See what I did there?) Will he even make the Raven’s roster this year?

I missed this one over the course of the week. Apparently, NFL Comissioner, Roger Goodell, sent out a memo to all teams addressing recent DUIs and reminding team players and personnel to “be responsible.”

The folks over at Pro Football Focus have been looking at each NFL team and determining that team’s “Secret Superstar.” Who was their selection for the Vikings? Go check it out. Who should we look out for on the Packers, Bears and Lions according to PFT? Linebacker D.J. Smith, cornerback Tim Jennings and defensive end Willie Young, respectively.

I really can’t stand this idea that the NFL is strictly a passing game and running the ball has lost its importance in the NFL. Adam and I will have to take the topic up in our next “Coin Toss.” Nevertheless, National Football Post has a good article up discussing the topic, using the Vikings lack of success even with Adrian Peterson as a prime example.

Although ESPN analyst Ron Jaworski expects Christian Ponder to “improve significantly this season” he still has Ponder ranked 28th out of 30 on his “Top QBs” list. Kevin Seifert from ESPN’s NFL North blog further inspects Jaworski’s analysis.

Vikings.com has some great OTA videos. Definitely check those out.

Our buddy Gil over at The Vikings Den landed a writing gig with Rant Sports. He’ll continue writing for TVD though and we wish him the best of luck. In this particular post, TVD looks at if the Vikings missed out by not signing linebacker Rocky McIntosh.

While the Vikings run play-action more than almost every team in the NFL, it turns out they’re not very good at it. (This is always something that has bothered me. With such an incredible running back, you think our play-action would be much more effective. I absolutely hate it when a quarterback doesn’t know how to sell the play-action. I think a good “just kidding” hand-off can really screw up a defense. Hopefully this is something Vikings QB Christian Ponder has been working on this offseason. Okay, rant over.)

Today is Father’s Day. And despite the fact that Chad Greenway’s father was recently diagnosed with leukemia and is now receiving hospice care, the Vikings linebacker still decided to host a Father’s Day fundraising 5k run. Please keep Chad and the Greenway family in your thoughts through these trying times for them.