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  1. #1
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    The Story of John Harbaugh & Bryant McKinnie

    Bryant McKinnie promised to report to training camp in 2012 at the weight prescribed by the team.

    He didn’t!

    Instead he showed up late and out of shape.

    Word was that McKinnie had a bit of a mishap at his home in Miami, fell down a few stairs and injured his back. When word of the alleged mishap reached team headquarters in Owings Mills eyes rolled like slot machines in Vegas.

    John Harbaugh had reached his breaking point with McKinnie. He had heard and seen enough and he was ready to completely part ways with the eccentric left tackle. But somewhere along the way cooler heads prevailed and the Ravens head coach gave McKinnie another chance, albeit a small one.

    The mountainous offensive lineman was given four weeks to get his house in order, although he probably used a more descriptive word than “house”.

    Ok, let’s set the scene.

    McKinnie is out of shape and reports late. He essentially stiffs the Ravens by failing to honor his commitment that he made at the end of the 2011 season to the team, the game and even himself – one that convinced the Ravens to give him a $500,000 roster bonus.

    His love of the game is questioned. He soaks in the South Beach scene, aspires to be a music record producer and took out a bad loan a year earlier to help finance that ambition. The loan is eventually past due and the creditor has McKinnie’s wages garnished. The garnishment represents half of what McKinnie will earn during those 17 Fridays in season.

    Adding insult to injury, McKinnie is ordered to the team’s answer to solitary confinement – the Harbaugh doghouse.

    So here we have a man whose love for the game is in the balance; he’s playing in large part to pay back a loan; he’s out of shape and really just longs for the day that he can be the next Quincy Jones.

    Those four weeks seemed destined to end in failure.

    But thanks to a few who cared and inspired McKinnie, he gradually worked his way back guided by a newfound commitment. He made steady progress towards his goal of losing 26 pounds. His focus was clearer and his daily activities more purposeful.

    With each small goal attained along the way, McKinnie, described by those who know him as a deep, complex and intelligent man, began to gain a sense of accomplishment. With each taste of attainment, he craved more.

    It slowly began to change his life.

    John Harbaugh took notice.

    Continue...
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  2. #2
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    Re: The Story of John Harbaugh & Bryant McKinnie

    Very good piece Tony.
    Master of 'Gifs for dummies'

    "The world called for wetwork, and we answered. No greater good. No just cause." - Kazuhira Miller





  3. #3
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    Re: The Story of John Harbaugh & Bryant McKinnie

    Harbs is my kinda guy... worked out for all involved

    World Domination 3 Points at a Time!





  4. #4
    Great article!

    Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2





  5. #5
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    Re: The Story of John Harbaugh & Bryant McKinnie

    I thought Caldwell was the one who influenced HARBs to insert Mc Kinney. Don't forget, at the same time they
    moved Oher back to RT and KO to his natural position of LG and they won all those games in the trenches.

    WE all knew it was a weight issue and he was in the dog house but getting out coincides with Caldwell taking over
    the offense. Also HARBS hired his buddy from Philly, Castillo who was the great line coach up there for many years.

    I just don't think HARBS did all that on his own. Yea, he made the final decision but he usually listens to his
    coaches.

    There was also a thread here that Ray worked with Mc Kinney in the weight room and helped him to lose weight
    and he even got a juicer. Not sure if that's true or a joke but Mc Kinney lost weight.

    Anyway, there's a lot of players involved in this story that helped HARBs out.

    Mc Kinney actually saved HARBS ass after he was inserted as the line play improved. Games are always won in
    the trenches and we lost those games to Piss, DC and slaughtered by Denver before beating them in the POs
    after those line moves.
    Last edited by AirFlacco; 02-21-2013 at 12:12 AM.





  6. #6

    Re: The Story of John Harbaugh & Bryant McKinnie

    From one, like, super-journalisty writer and stuff to another, great job! Enlightening read. :)
    My Ravens Blog: Brittany Rants About Football
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    "The days are long. But the years are short." - John Harbaugh





  7. #7
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    Re: The Story of John Harbaugh & Bryant McKinnie

    Good article, though I don't like the "doghouse" term.

    From what I can tell, a player puts himself in there. As you clarify it in the article, it's not exactly a "doghouse" as that term has seemed to get used with respect to Harbaugh.

    There seems to be an assumption by the McKinney backers that he would have played at the level he did had he been inserted earlier into the line-up. I don't think that's a given. Making McKinney work for it, imo, had a lot to do with his success once he earned his way onto the field.





  8. #8
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    Re: The Story of John Harbaugh & Bryant McKinnie

    Good point.

    JO also said that Mc kinney wasn't ready yet and should be by that time. His words were: with Oher struggling Mc Kinney
    should be in a position to step up to the Coach and say I'm ready but to JO he clearly wasn't. That wasn't long before
    the insertion.





  9. #9
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    Re: The Story of John Harbaugh & Bryant McKinnie

    Quote Originally Posted by AirFlacco View Post
    I thought Caldwell was the one who influenced HARBs to insert Mc Kinney. Don't forget, at the same time they
    moved Oher back to RT and KO to his natural position of LG and they won all those games in the trenches.

    WE all knew it was a weight issue and he was in the dog house but getting out coincides with Caldwell taking over
    the offense. Also HARBS hired his buddy from Philly, Castillo who was the great line coach up there for many years.

    I just don't think HARBS did all that on his own. Yea, he made the final decision but he usually listens to his
    coaches.

    There was also a thread here that Ray worked with Mc Kinney in the weight room and helped him to lose weight
    and he even got a juicer. Not sure if that's true or a joke but Mc Kinney lost weight.

    Anyway, there's a lot of players involved in this story that helped HARBs out.

    Mc Kinney actually saved HARBS ass after he was inserted as the line play improved. Games are always won in
    the trenches and we lost those games to Piss, DC and slaughtered by Denver before beating them in the POs
    after those line moves.
    I didn't see you at the facility. Say hello next time!
    Follow me on Twitter @RSRLombardi





  10. #10
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    Re: The Story of John Harbaugh & Bryant McKinnie

    Great piece, and a good reminder: its easy, on the outside looking in, to make drastic statements about what somebody else ought to do, and how "Well, if it were ME, why I'd just......"

    Yeah, yeah, yeah.....

    In real life, 99% of the time it seems, the best decision is when you let your anger/disappointment at somebody subside instead of allowing you to make a snap decision.

    There are times where if I told people what I really thought of them, and got my ego in a wad and decided to just throw my Mighty Thunderbolt down on them from Mt. Olympus, I would be completely screwed right now. Even the people who've royally screwed me up by not paying attention, doing what they need to do, etc I have backed away from the brink of madness and instead of banning them from my life or business, have instead figured out how to get something out of them. I have never regretted that once.

    I could see very easily though, had I unleashed the fury on any of these people and decided to go scorched earth with them, how much more difficult it would have been to fix whatever the problem would have been without them.

    Oddly enough, it turns out that "benching" "releasing" or flat out destroying people is counterproductive -- in real life.

    On sports talk, the internet, etc., it's easy to get caught up in emotion and make snap judgments. It makes for a nice ,clean, bright line opinion. It helps us define ourselves ("I'm a McKinnie backer, you're a McKinnie hater") which makes thought simpler.

    But "making thought simpler" should not be mistaken for "that which makes real problems get solved."

    For the record I was always skeptical on McKinnie and can't recall having ever been on the McKinnie bandwagon as far as wanting him back in the lineup. But as usual, the Ravens made the right decision, which is what makes them such a tremendous organization, through and through.





  11. #11

    Re: The Story of John Harbaugh & Bryant McKinnie

    Nice article... but something huge is missing. For all the anonymous sources, for all the assumptions and suppositions (no matter how well supported), for all the various navel-gazing, I know one thing that this article completely fails to omit and without which we're not even having this conversation.

    If Jah Reid hadn't been injured, does McKinnie even see the field? Because I don't think he does, and for all the "feel-goodery," what proof do we have that the true explanation isn't the simplest one: that McKinnie played because he was the next man up on the depth chart?





  12. #12
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    Great stuff!

    Yet, there will still be those who will question the notion of him reporting out of shape in spite dozens of reports that support it.

    Why this one player is given Gaither-esqu mysticism is beyond me.





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