Bryant McKinnie

Bryant Douglas McKinnie (born September 23, 1979) is an American football offensive tackle for the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the University of Miami, where he was twice recognized as an All-American. The Minnesota Vikings picked him in the first round of the 2002 NFL Draft, and he has played professionally for the Vikings and Ravens.

Early years
McKinnie was born in Woodbury, New Jersey. He attended Woodbury High School in Woodbury, New Jersey, and played high school football for the Woodbury Thundering Herd.

College career
McKinnie played college football for two years at Lackawanna College in Scranton, Pennsylvania. There, he gained 70 pounds and switched from his high school position as defensive lineman to offensive tackle. After junior college, he received a scholarship to transfer to the University of Miami and play for the Miami Hurricanes football team.

After redshirting in 1999, McKinnie started his junior and senior years at left tackle for the Hurricanes. During his college career he was an extraordinary blocking tackle, not allowing a sack on a quarterback against opposition such as future NFL star Dwight Freeney from Syracuse. McKinnie was, however, penalized for holding Freeney on one play, a rare blemish on his memorable season. McKinnie received first-team All-American honors in 2000, and was recognized as a unanimous first-team All-American in 2001. Also in 2001, McKinnie was the winner of the Outland Trophy, finished 8th overall in voting for the Heisman Trophy, was the CNN Sports Illustrated "Player of the Year" and a key part of the Hurricanes' 2001 National Championship. At Miami, he was roommates with future NFL tight end Jeremy Shockey.

In the September 2006 issue of FHM magazine, McKinnie was one of five University of Miami alumni prominently featured in an article titled: "University of Miami Hit Squad: The Hurricanes are Taking Over the NFL. Deal with it." In the article, McKinnie said: "If you put together a team made up of guys playing in the NFL who come from the University of Miami, we'd be playing in the Super Bowl this season. And I think we'd win."

Bryant was inducted into the University of Miami Sports Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2012.

Minnesota Vikings
McKinnie was selected seventh overall by the Minnesota Vikings in the 2002 NFL Draft. McKinnie started every game for Minnesota from 2003–2007, and had a streak of 80 consecutive games started.

After a 2009 loss against the Arizona Cardinals, it was reported by Tony Boselli on the Dan Patrick show that McKinnie accidentally tipped off the Vikings offensive game plan to the Cardinals. He said that the Cardinals knew when the Vikings were going to pass because of his leg. "He would have one of his legs back a little bit further" when getting in stance before the play. In 2010, McKinnie allowed a sack that injured Brett Favre and stopped his consecutive regular season start streak at 297 games.

McKinnie was selected to his first NFL Pro Bowl game in the 2009 season, but before the event it was announced that he would not play in the game. The league said they had kicked him off his Pro Bowl squad for skipping three of the four practices and the team photo. He had previously told NFC offensive line coach Hudson Houck that he was ill. McKinnie told reporters that due to injuries in his feet and left ankle he had decided he didn't want to play. He was later ordered by the league to repay $4,285 for expenses and forfeited his $22,500 game check.

In the summer of 2011 he was cut from the Vikings squad after being placed on the non-football injury list. The Star Tribune reported that he had shown up to training camp weighing close to 400 pounds. He had finished the prior season at 360 pounds claimed he was going to hire a trainer in the offseason and lose some weight. He had also been taking tennis lessons from Venus Williams over the offseason and claimed that the lessons were long and tired him out. He was released by the Vikings on August 2, 2011.

Baltimore Ravens
On August 24, 2011, after being vouched for by former University of Miami teammate Ed Reed, McKinnie signed with the Baltimore Ravens. In 2012, McKinnie was fined $30,000 for failing to report to training camp, increasing financial troubles that he faced after he was sued for $4.5 million after taking out a loan during the 2011 NFL lockout. After seeing limited playing time during the 2012 regular season, in the 2013 NFL playoffs he started every play at left tackle during the Raven's four playoff victories and culminated with the Baltimore Ravens as National Football League Champions.

2005 gas station incident
In 2005, McKinnie was arrested along with former Vikings guard Marcus Johnson on suspicion of disorderly conduct and obstructing the legal process. At approximate 3:00 AM police officers were called to clear out a large crowd from Bobby & Steve's Auto World, the Minneapolis, Minnesota location. A witness told WCCO-AM that McKinnie was offended by a comment by a fellow player and a scuffle resulted.

Boat cruise scandal
In October 2005, McKinnie was charged with a misdemeanor for his involvement in the 2005 Minnesota Vikings boat cruise scandal. He allegedly picked up a naked woman, placing her on the bar and performed cunnilingus on her in front of the crew and other guests. Later that evening, he and three other men were spotted sitting in deck chairs receiving fellatio from four women, which was also observed by the crew in a public area of the boat.

On May 26, 2006, McKinnie pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct and being a public nuisance on a watercraft in connection with the Love Boat scandal. He agreed to pay a $1,000 fine and perform 48 hours of community service. Vikings owner Zygi Wilf said, in addition to community service, he would participate in numerous service events this season. On September 9, 2006, the NFL announced that it would fine McKinnie and fellow Viking Fred Smoot one game check for the incident. For McKinnie, it amounted to approximately $41,000. A day after the fine was levied, he was given a raise and a seven-year extension of his contract worth $48 million.

Daunte Culpepper controversy
In February 2006, the Vikings were considering trading quarterback Daunte Culpepper, another person charged in the "love boat" scandal, for refusing to rehabilitate his injured knee at the Minnesota team facility. McKinnie told the St. Paul Pioneer Press: "We already made one mistake (trading former Vikings wide receiver Randy Moss). Don't do it twice (by trading Culpepper).  If that's the case, let me go." Culpepper was traded shortly afterwards to the Miami Dolphins, but McKinnie re-signed with the Vikings regardless.

2008 night club incident
In February 2008 McKinnie was arrested and charged with aggravated battery, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest without violence after a street brawl outside a Miami nightclub. Miami police said McKinnie spit in the face of a bouncer when he was removed from the club, then, after heading across the street to another establishment, returned to Club Space and argued with the bouncer, Eric Otero. McKinnie then allegedly shoved his phone in Otero's face before picking up a heavy pole and hitting him. A judge ordered McKinnie to complete 25 hours of community service and anger management classes.

Personal
On June 8, 2008 the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation welcomed Bryant McKinnie as their newest ambassador to the foundation. The foundation was inspired and established by Dr. Nelson Mandela over a decade ago with the help of some of the world's most famous athletes, among them Dan Marino, John McEnroe, Martina Navratilova, Nadia Comaneci, & Gale Sayers.

During the weekend of May 17 in Miami, McKinnie hosted the Laureus Foundation’s Third Annual Celebrity Fundraiser along with NFL Hall of Famer Marcus Allen and Olympic Track and Field Gold Medalist Edwin Moses. More than thirty greats of golf, tennis, football, hockey, and the Olympics joined McKinnie for the fundraiser which, along with the foundation’s golf and tennis invitational, raised more than $150,000 to support the formation of CampInteractive’s South Florida chapter benefitting at-risk teens.

McKinnie is also the CEO and founder of BMajor Music Group and BMajor Foundation.