McKinnie downplays missing bowl

A week after being dismissed from the NFC Pro Bowl team because of unexcused absences, Vikings left tackle Bryant McKinnie offered no apologies and made it known he felt too much was made of the situation.

"I understand I missed it," McKinnie told reporters at the Super Bowl media center Thursday in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. "But they tried to make it seem like it was because [I was] at the [night] club and couldn't get up. No. I had called [agent Drew Rosenhaus] and told Drew I wanted to withdraw."

McKinnie, a first-time Pro Bowl selection, skipped Pro Bowl practices last Friday and Saturday before the NFL kicked him off the team. He said he had taken a cortisone shot in his foot the week before the game but his "body started feeling a certain way." McKinnie, who also claimed he became sick last week, said he consulted with a trainer about the pain but they never got a chance to meet up.

McKinnie raised several eyebrows, however, by using his Twitter account to inform the public of various late-night activities that he was going to attend in the Miami area. "I'm off at the end of the day," McKinnie said. "I had a long season. It was a pretty decent season. You know what I mean? It's all all right."

The NFL is still considering fining Mc-Kinnie for how he conducted himself; McKinnie has found himself in hot water with the NFL before and was suspended for four games to start 2008 after violating the league's personal conduct policy.

"There wasn't anything bad behind it," McKinnie said of his actions this time. "I just feel that they made it more than it really was. It wasn't like I got locked up somewhere and couldn't play in the game because I was in jail. That's how they made it seem. I just didn't know that it was going to be that serious."

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(startribune.com)