Wurzell
Rookie
Are the Viking's being held ta ransom ?...or is McKinnie just plain greedy ?...either way with their team at 0-4 so far this season the Vikings just gotta get this fella out on the ground.
***ARTICLE FROM ESPN***
Wednesday, October 2
McKinnie waiting to sign, help Vikings
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Associated Press
CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) _ Bryant McKinnie walked from hospital room to hospital room Wednesday, signing autographs, posing for pictures and playing cards and video games.
He had to duck and turn at every door, maneuvering his 6-foot-8, 345-pound body through the Miami Children's Hospital.
He looked out of place and felt that way too. McKinnie, the NFL's lone unsigned first-round draft pick, knows he should be playing football, not finding ways to fill his spare time.
``We're eventually going to have to come to an agreement,'' said McKinnie, an All-American tackle who didn't allow a sack in two seasons with the Miami Hurricanes.
``How long that takes? I don't know why it should even take this long. If you're going to sign me eventually, then you should have just done it from the beginning and got it over with.''
McKinnie, the seventh overall pick in last April's draft, said he was frustrated with his holdout and eager to help the winless Vikings, but he also is willing to sit out this season if he doesn't get the contract he feels he deserves.
``If you settle for a horrible deal, you sell yourself short,'' he said. ``That's not something I want to do. You need to get the most you can get to benefit yourself because the minute you get hurt or cut, that's the end of your career. And you never know when that is.''
McKinnie said the two sides were about $1.5 million apart but talking every day and trying to get a deal done that could have him in uniform for the team's Oct. 13 game against Detroit.
``I wish he was in, to be honest,'' Vikings coach Mike Tice said Wednesday. ``He would help, there's no denying that. ... I'm not hopeful. I'm wishful, but I'm not hopeful.''
The Vikings have made it clear that they have no plans to trade him. If McKinnie does not sign by Nov. 12, he will be ineligible to play this season. The Vikings could trade his rights beginning in March 2003, but such a scenario would require the sides to first agree on a contract.
If they don't trade him, he would go back into the draft in April.
``I can promise you it's not going to go that far because if I go back in the draft, Minnesota will lose the seventh pick. They will get nothing out of the deal,'' he said. ``If they trade me, they can get an extra first-round pick for next year or something like that. What do you think they'll do?''
Meanwhile, McKinnie is working out almost every day, lifting weights and running at local gyms or on campus with his former teammates.
He also is keeping up with the Vikings, reading about the team and watching highlights. He has seen only one game this season, Minnesota's 48-23 loss to Seattle on Sunday night, but he picked up plenty.
``They only run to the right side,'' he said. ``Some of those games that were so close I thought I could have had an impact, especially since they're only running to one side and that's the opposite side I play on. I think I could have made an impact and we could be 2-2 or at least won one game.''
McKinnie still has a training camp playbook and several videotapes from the Vikings, but having already studied them repeatedly, he started looking for other ways to spend his spare time.
He ended up at the children's hospital. He spent several hours there Wednesday morning. He talked to some kids and played with others, putting smiles on just about all their faces.
---------------------------------
***ARTICLE FROM ESPN***
Wednesday, October 2
McKinnie waiting to sign, help Vikings
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Associated Press
CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) _ Bryant McKinnie walked from hospital room to hospital room Wednesday, signing autographs, posing for pictures and playing cards and video games.
He had to duck and turn at every door, maneuvering his 6-foot-8, 345-pound body through the Miami Children's Hospital.
He looked out of place and felt that way too. McKinnie, the NFL's lone unsigned first-round draft pick, knows he should be playing football, not finding ways to fill his spare time.
``We're eventually going to have to come to an agreement,'' said McKinnie, an All-American tackle who didn't allow a sack in two seasons with the Miami Hurricanes.
``How long that takes? I don't know why it should even take this long. If you're going to sign me eventually, then you should have just done it from the beginning and got it over with.''
McKinnie, the seventh overall pick in last April's draft, said he was frustrated with his holdout and eager to help the winless Vikings, but he also is willing to sit out this season if he doesn't get the contract he feels he deserves.
``If you settle for a horrible deal, you sell yourself short,'' he said. ``That's not something I want to do. You need to get the most you can get to benefit yourself because the minute you get hurt or cut, that's the end of your career. And you never know when that is.''
McKinnie said the two sides were about $1.5 million apart but talking every day and trying to get a deal done that could have him in uniform for the team's Oct. 13 game against Detroit.
``I wish he was in, to be honest,'' Vikings coach Mike Tice said Wednesday. ``He would help, there's no denying that. ... I'm not hopeful. I'm wishful, but I'm not hopeful.''
The Vikings have made it clear that they have no plans to trade him. If McKinnie does not sign by Nov. 12, he will be ineligible to play this season. The Vikings could trade his rights beginning in March 2003, but such a scenario would require the sides to first agree on a contract.
If they don't trade him, he would go back into the draft in April.
``I can promise you it's not going to go that far because if I go back in the draft, Minnesota will lose the seventh pick. They will get nothing out of the deal,'' he said. ``If they trade me, they can get an extra first-round pick for next year or something like that. What do you think they'll do?''
Meanwhile, McKinnie is working out almost every day, lifting weights and running at local gyms or on campus with his former teammates.
He also is keeping up with the Vikings, reading about the team and watching highlights. He has seen only one game this season, Minnesota's 48-23 loss to Seattle on Sunday night, but he picked up plenty.
``They only run to the right side,'' he said. ``Some of those games that were so close I thought I could have had an impact, especially since they're only running to one side and that's the opposite side I play on. I think I could have made an impact and we could be 2-2 or at least won one game.''
McKinnie still has a training camp playbook and several videotapes from the Vikings, but having already studied them repeatedly, he started looking for other ways to spend his spare time.
He ended up at the children's hospital. He spent several hours there Wednesday morning. He talked to some kids and played with others, putting smiles on just about all their faces.
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) iffin I was a Viking's fan...fortunately tho' ...I ain't