I’m a big, overweight guy. Being a big, overweight guy, I don’t like to comment on other people’s weight problems. I do, however, like to call a spade a spade when I see it. So when the Ravens announced a month ago that they wanted LT Bryant McKinnie to be at 345 lbs, it sent up some red flags about his weight and conditioning. It was said that he weighed 365 in May and 354 at the start of minicamp in June.
Then McKinnie doesn’t show up to training camp.
All day, people were speculating that it was his weight that was the problem. John Harbaugh addressed the media by saying that McKinnie is dealing with some sort of personal issue and there is no timetable on his return. Obviously, this is something that could be a concern for Ravens fans. Without McKinnie, Oher is back to Left Tackle and Jah Ried is now the leading candidate for the Right Tackle position.
However, what I am wondering is “What is really going on?” Is there something serious with McKinnie, or are the Ravens using their PR machine to buy themselves and McKinnie some time? Did the Ravens coaching staff draw a line in the sand in hopes to motivate the big guy? If so, this “personal issue” could be a great way to deflect attention. This is less of a criticism about McKinnie than being untrusting of the Ravens front office. They have been recognized for having a top notch PR team led by Kevin Byrne, but being married to a PR person, I know for a fact that PR is based on “spinning the truth” or “lying,” as some call it.
As much as I love this team, I cannot trust a thing that comes out of their mouths. McKinnie will have to come out of hiding soon and when he does, he might set the record straight. Only then, assuming he isn’t lying about his absence, we can see how honest John Harbaugh was yesterday.
Matt, the author of this article says he is a big, overweight guy but I’ve seen Matt, even broke bread with Matt at G&M Restaurant and the guy is a stud! He even had the women at the table next to us checking him out…
The Intim…Careful about publishing that kinda stuff…The author of the article says he is “married”…Please use more discretion next time…
Hey Intimidator,
From your picture, you look like a big overweight gay yourself….
Ol’ Bruz, Matt knows what I’m talking about and why they were looking at us… You had to be there to enjoy the moment…
9Incher… Along with you and Ol’ Bruz you hit the nail on the head except for the gay part… Women like the fat guys…
And btw 9Incher, cut back on the Columbian Bam-Bam and maybe you’ll be able to satisfy your woman without pharmaceutical help…
Matt,
Seems like the Ravens become more and more like the CIA everyday. I realize it’s a several billion dollar business, but in the end it’s a kids game. The “cloak and dagger” mystery of closing camp, the cryptic announcements about injuries are all great if you are trying to keep something from the fans, but the other NFL teams know what’s going on. They’re not as stupid as the Ravens seem to think they are.
Art Modell was pretty straight to the point when he said closing up the camp was a mistake, in his view and that he was not consulted.
The Steelers seemingly rubbed it in the Ravens’ face by saying “the road to 6 Super Bowls went through Latrobe (site of their open camp)” and that they had no plans on changing it. So the cloak and dagger of keeping camp closed for “competitive reasons” almost makes the Ravens look stupid.
Stop BSing the fans, Ravens. Some of us are smarter than that and God knows the other teams are smarter than that.
Since Iraq, I am going to always need pharmaceutical help to please the old lady 🙁
Don’t act like you were in Iraq fighting. You were in Iraq last year opening up a sweat shop, having 10 year old kids make fake jerseys for you.
Agree with MGW… And like I’ve been saying for awhile now… All this un-fan friendly shit started happening when Harbaugh came here.
Harbaugh cannot take criticism and cannot stand the fans.
You know what the Ravens can do with that dumbass raffle to come watch the team practice? Shove it up their asses. If they can’t open camp like the old days there is no way that I’m going to beg them to come watch them practice.
The Ravens were one of the top teams in regards to fan friendliness until that clown Harbaugh came here.
Look at the childish crap they diid to the Orioles on Opening Day. Posting “Raise your hand if you’d rather be cheering in THIS stadium than a baseball stadium today!”
I’m a diehard Ravens fan but not a fan of the clowns Harbaugh & Biscotti… Not with the way they treat the fans.
These guys are right on,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Harbaugh has taken the once fan-friendly Ravens down a notch in that department,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,it is easy to see the fan friendliness has declined since Harbaugh and Bisciotti took over,,,,it may not happen all at once but the errosion of the fan base has begun , it may sound stupid because the Ravens are so popular now the decline is not evident , but it is in the wind…………….a year or two out of the playoffs and the decline will become noticeable to everyone else………………
spy, it doesn’t sound stupid at all. The “Pink Hat” fans that don’t know any better are just along for the playoff ride. They are bolster the numbers right now. A lot of real fans are getting pissed at the crap they are doing and hey basically shut out the kids- who are the future fan base. I bet this doesn’t last long. The Ravens are arrogant, but not stupid. I can see camp opening a year or two done the road. Even the cocky Dan Synder changed his ways and stop charging to go to camp.
*damned auto correct
You know, I get on the Orioles all the time about being cheap and not willing to put a good product on the field for the fans but the Ravens are the opposite. The Ravens put a good product on the field but go out of their way to screw the fans over…
What fan friendly thing have the Ravens done since Harbaugh has been here?
Hell, you even have Harbaugh telling a fan on the radio to go find another team!
It’s even went down to the overrated QB Flacco… How many times has Flacco backed out of an appearance? MGW can tell you a few of them…
Like Spy said, wait till this team doesn’t make the playoffs for 2 years. The fans will start noticing. Right now the fans are jilted by the 4 playoff appearances without a Super Bowl trip.