What’s next for Bryant McKinnie?

By Jonathan Mohr  |   Friday, February 29, 2008  |  Comments( 1 )

Minnesota Vikings
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It's a safe bet that nowhere in the Minnesota Vikings' 77-page employee handbook and code of conduct is there a rule explicitly forbidding the braining of a nightclub bouncer with his own rope-line stanchion.

So maybe Bryant McKinnie can plead ignorance when the organization finishes reviewing all of the evidence regarding the downtown-Miami brawl he was supposedly involved in as the sun rose Feb. 24.

There is nothing alleged about the three criminal charges the Vikings starting left tackle now faces, however, including felony aggravated battery for that otherwise impressive feat of strength.
Experts familiar with Miami-Dade County's legal system believe McKinnie will likely escape jail time given the charges; however, some sort of suspension from the NFL is probably unavoidable unless McKinnie is vindicated.

But the most interesting question yet to be answered is how Vikings coach Brad Childress will respond? Maybe the more appropriate question, however, centers around what he can really do.
Safety Dwight Smith, arrested twice this past season himself, was released by the Vikings four days before McKinnie's dust-up. The timing couldn't have been worse for Childress. Cutting ties with Smith may have had more to do with his inconsistent play than his legal issues. But it certainly didn't hurt the team's image to be releasing a player perceived as its biggest off-the-field troublemaker in 2007.

Now Childress is forced into the no-win situation of having to discipline a player the team can't afford to lose. It's also a player involved in an incident more serious than any Smith ever had while with the Vikings.

The Vikings won't release McKinnie. If Tarvaris Jackson is to have any hope of developing into a productive NFL quarterback in 2008, giving defensive ends a free run at his blindside all year long isn't the best strategy.

They could bench him, but that invites the same problem.

The Vikings could try to fine McKinnie, as they did with receiver Troy Williamson during the 2007 season, a move that blew up in the organization's face.

Or the team could let the NFL do the heavy lifting when it comes to punishment. The smart money is on this alternative. The Vikings will likely let NFL commissioner Roger Goodell play the bad guy.

The fact is, Childress can't afford to take any meaningful disciplinary action against McKinnie. The coach may have been brought in to restore order, but his most important mandate is to win. And two years into the Childress regime, the Vikings have yet to equal the 9-7 record posted by Mike Tice the year he was axed.

Playing without McKinnie won't help the Childress change that in 2008.

Let's be clear, McKinnie isn't exactly Anthony Munoz. As left tackles go he's adequate, not the dominant force you would expect from a player of his size (6-foot-8, 335 pounds) with his mobility. And Minnesota fans might rightly wonder where all the emotion McKinnie displays in his private life goes when he takes the field.

This is a man who, during his college days, is said to have scored a one-punch knockout of heavyweight boxer Shannon Briggs in a fight outside another Miami club. When was the last time McKinnie got into a fight during a game? It's hard even to recall a shoving match. He's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, but backward -- mild mannered on the field and looking to rumble once he's back in street clothes.

But unless Childress puts the organization's code of conduct -- written after the 2005 "Love Boat" incident, in which McKinnie was also intimately involved -- above his own well-being, the Vikings probably won't do much more than accept whatever penalty the league office hands down.

When codes of conduct butt heads with wins and losses, you don't need a spread to wager on the final outcome.

Adequate isn't easy to find when it comes to left tackles in the NFL.
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About Jonathan Mohr

A lifelong Vikings fan, I live in the Twin Cities area (about a mile from Winter Park) and work as an editor at a boating magazine. As with all long-suffering Vikings fans, I patiently look forward to the day when Minnesota finally breaks through and wins a Super Bowl. Until then I eat my...
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