Bryant McKinnie hoped for Pro Bowl season to offset 2009 fiasco

As you might remember, the constant changing of venues, coaching changes and scheduling changes kept the last month of the season quite eventful.

There was less time for player features because of the constant news churning. Well, the blog is the perfect place to spill some lost notes from the locker room, right?

I revisited a chat I had with left tackle Bryant McKinnie in December that I found interesting. Well, I found it interesting a month ago, but I never got around to writing it.

Here goes an abbreviated version of what I had planned to write.

After the fallout of being kicked off last year's Pro Bowl team for unexcused absences from practice, Vikings left tackle Bryant McKinnie wanted undisputed Pro Bowl on his resume.

For the most part, McKinnie felt he did just that by having a more productive season than in 2009 despite not making the 2010 Pro Bowl roster. When McKinnie checked the voting back in December, he was fourth among left tackles. That made him proud.

"I needed to come out this year and play at a high level so there couldn't be any talk about, 'Well, he shouldn't have played anyway,'" said McKinnie of 2009. "I wanted to come out and show that I can play at a Pro Bowl level consistently regardless of if I go or not. I still feel I'm one of the elite left tackles in the game."

Once released from the Pro Bowl team, McKinnie issued a statement disclosing knee and ankle injuries that prevented him from fulfilling his Pro Bowl duties. He still holds true to that story today.

"There were things that took place that people never really knew what really took place," McKinnie said. "I just said leave it alone, so I left it alone."

McKinnie didn't dominate all season for the Vikings, but he was serviceable most of the time on a makeshift Vikings O-line. McKinnie said he played better in 2010 than the year before, but he fell victim to his team's poor record in the Pro Bowl voting.

Left tackles on better teams get more credit.

"I take pride in the fact people are actually acknowledging I am having actually better season this year than last year," McKinnie said.

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(twincities.com)