Transcript of Bryant McKinnie NEVER Got Fined By The NFL?! | Hour 2 New

This is the Dan Levatar Show with the Stugatz Podcast.

So this is what our basketball expert said before the game last night. I think the Thunder are going to destroy them. And Michelle Beadle, who was on with us earlier, said before the game, after SGA won the MVP, she said it would inspire Wemby. Quote, it's going to make Wemby play better. The alien is petty. So Michelle Beadle, Amin's nemesis, was more accurate slightly than our basketball expert, at least one game into the series. Whose list was the best on those top 10 lists, Greg? Which of the lists did you like the best?

I like Valerie's list, actually. I like that it had certain ones that were on neither of the other two lists, such as the art of conversation. I just thought there was a little more variety to it.

I still have nightmares about Dunk LeBretard, so that one's— I'm with, I'm with Valerie.

No billboard on Valerie's list, which I thought was interesting.

Uh, well, thank you for that. So that allows us to play the Cleveland television station that covered the, uh, billboard controversy comprehensively. I know we need to fire up the narcissist cam so you can see Greg Cody's delight when this story plays.

Now at 11, it's a sign of the times. This billboard poking fun at LeBron James went viral yesterday. Well, tonight, the man, the Miami radio host behind the billboard, has been both silenced and suspended. Good evening, I'm Danita Harris. Chris is in Chicago tonight getting ready for tomorrow's vote to bring the 2016 Republican National Convention to Cleveland. We're gonna check in with him in just a few moments.

Smaller state.

But first, message delivered. You're welcome, LeBron. We showed you the controversial billboard in Akron last night. Now the ESPN radio host who paid for it is now paying the price. NewsChannel 5's Michael Baldwin live in LeBron's hometown where Dan Lebatard's silence definitely has people talking.

Yeah, Danita, we won't be hearing from ESPN host Dan Lebatard anytime soon. That's because he's been suspended for 2 days. He's been suspended for putting up signs like these throughout the city of Akron. And notice, Danita, I said these. That's because the There's more than one. Not one, not two, not three, not four, not five, but six. That's right, six of these "You're welcome LeBron, love Miami" billboards spread across Akron. They cost about $100 grand and they were put up by ESPN TV and radio host Dan Le Batard, who lives in Miami. Well, the four-letter network suspended him for two days because they say they had no idea what he was up to. They released a statement saying in part, his recent stunt does not reflect ESPN's standards and brand. We were not made aware of his plans in advance. LeBretard sent a text to a reporter in response to the suspension, which reads, "I guess ESPN didn't find it at all quite as funny as I did." Nope, and neither did people from Akron, like the LeBron James Grandmother's Fan Club.

I did not like the billboard.

No, don't mess with my child.

Don't mess with our child.

A Miami Herald reporter spoke to LeBretard and said, we may be out of bounds on the signed message.

Dan did it all in jest, you know. To him, it was all good-natured fun, you know. It was never meant as any sort of harsh criticism of LeBron.

No matter what the billboard's message is, people in Akron think ESPN did the right thing by having LeBretard sit on the bench a few days.

Well, I think he did it underhanded then, you know.

If they didn't know about it, they did the right thing by suspending him.

Mm, how about that?

You know, of those 6 billboards that we found, we found one near Springfield Township and another one near Coventry, just over the Akron line. Now again, Dan Lebatard's producer is supposed to be coming to the rally tomorrow. He says he has another few surprises for us. We'll have to see what those are. Alright, we're live in Akron. I'm Michael Baldwin, NewsChannel 5.

Oh, wonder what they could be. Okay, thank you very much, Michael.

Oh, big story in Akron, huh?

The local news music gets me every time.

And then that awkward silence in between the pre-produced piece, back to the live guy.

You can always tell the difference between the microphone too. It's great.

Jeremy mentioned that Greg Cody sounded like the 1950s there. You looked younger, you sounded healthier, you sounded vibrant.

Okay. I mean, I don't—

ah, Dan never meant to do this on purpose.

I definitely looked younger. I didn't know how to play that. Like, I didn't know whether to make fun of it or— I went all serious, which is not natural for me.

Jeremy, the Marlins beat the Braves last night. They have the major league leader in batting average in Otto Lopez. They have the RBI leader in Liam Hicks. They are 6 games back of the wild card. What do you have?

They also have the only qualified starting pitcher in baseball without a loss in Max Meyer. He shoved last night. That was even the story.

That's enough. Thank you. We appreciate everything you gave us. They shoved. That is a bit— he's, he's developed the baseball parlance. That is something you hear around the batting cage. It's something that's only made an appearance over the last 9 years. He shoved is a new— and it's short for he shoved it up there. That's what it's— that's what—

that's about as close as I'll get to saying that is just shoved. But yeah, come on. That's, that's baseball talk, Dano. Come on. Javy Sanoha grand slam and then Xavier Edwards goes back to back. It was nuts. The best shutout they've ever had over the Braves in the history of the franchise.

You love run differential. That was a good day for run differential.

Dan, 12-nothing Braves. The Braves are +86 on the season.

Good.

They're -14 against the Marlins.

The Braves are an exceptional baseball team.

They'll probably win 16-2 today.

And that concludes our Marlins coverage for the season.

I hope not.

They are too—

they are doing it cheap. Unfortunately, they've got a lot of problems in that division, including suddenly Don Mattingly. The Phillies are clubbing everybody. What the hell is that?

Miracle, man.

They get Don Mattingly and they cannot lose at all. How are you making that nepotism?

He was hired by his son, the GM.

It's reverse nepotism, we decided.

Reverse nepo.

But that's not nepotism.

That's—

that needs another— that—

well, it's how to get the job.

Yeah, but that's not—

is Donnie works hard. I'm actually okay with it.

No, but, but thanks, Dad.

No, but I don't think that the son hiring the— is the son hiring the dad nepotism?

We discussed this and I was calling it reverse nepotism, and people pointed out to me that nepotism, it's just nepotism regardless. It goes either way, you can go up the chain or down the chain.

I did not know that.

If I get my dad a job, that's nepotism.

I did not think that.

Here's a definition: unfair practice of using power or influence to grant jobs, promotions, or other advantages to family members regardless of their qualifications. So it could be—

my bad—

is Donnie qualified? Let's talk about this. Let's really talk it out.

Could be Mattingly managing, could be Poppy on HQ.

It is super weird that the Phillies all of a sudden are clubbing the baseball and are good when they started the season terribly just because they hired Don Mattingly. They haven't changed it. They didn't change anything else.

Schwarber's on pace to hit like 68 home runs.

You could argue they had a good team though, and like the bigger—

like, but we all thought—

we fired their manager because of a small sample size.

Everybody thought like, oh, they're old, it's finally over for some of these guys— Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber— and they have been the best hitters in baseball since Don Mattingly became the manager. 15-4.

I was not joking. I know a lot of people around here, uh, can't always tell what's a bit and what's not a bit, but I was not joking in any way when I told you guys that I was indeed negotiating with Yudanis Haslam to become the enforcer around here for our, uh, our punishments and costumes and penalties, uh, for the bucket, uh, during football season. Those negotiations have fallen apart, but I am now in negotiations with another big man who's formidable, who we're going to bring in here in a second, in order to more properly administrate our costume situation, because It's been a long time since anyone around here wore a costume. And so in moments here, we will have in the studio with us what I believe to be— will be our new enforcers, because it's been a minute since any of you wore a costume around here. And the reason that Jeremy has a neck brace on is because the last time he was in here, he put Jeremy in a headlock, and it was very painful. And Jeremy was complaining about this. Were you here that day, Greg, when Jeremy was complaining about about the fact that a, uh, a great former offensive lineman had put him in a headlock, and he's obviously a very strong human being.

No, I was not. I wish I had been. That would have been an interesting sight.

Uh, well, he, he did legitimately get hurt. It hurt.

Yeah, I mean, it wasn't supposed to hurt. Bryant was very kind and, uh, in his version of gentle, but it still crushed my neck, and I was in pain for a couple of weeks.

Yeah, we will, uh, we will bring Bryant in here in second. But I— among the things that I want to talk to Bryant McKinney about is sort of the changes in journalism that make it so that Jaylen Brown and Stephen A. Smith are now just going back and forth at each other. And I do think this is the weird transaction where Jaylen Brown suffers from it, but Stephen A. Smith does not. Stephen A. Smith gets rewarded for the fact that all of these guys continue to get lured into beef with him. So the first thing we're going to do here as this escalates—

I'm just marveling that I think he just ate a donut in 2 bites.

Yes, he's a substantive man with an appetite and he can eat whatever he wants around here because I've brought him in here to shipshape you guys a little bit because you guys don't wear costumes.

I've seen Chris eat a donut in 2 bites.

Shut your mouth.

Shipshape.

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Don Lebatard.

And finally, abstaining from food for 16 to 18 hours a day could be key.

To treating a variety of health conditions like stabilizing blood sugar levels and increasing resistance to stress.

Stugatz.

Mike, are you doing something like this right now?

I lost a lot of weight doing intermittent fasting and low carb, so now I'm getting back to it.

But how much in that 6 to 8 hour window, how much can you eat? Unlimited?

If I could just eat unlimited, I'd do that. That'd be fun.

For 6 to 8 hours.

You can't eat unlimited.

Try me.

No, no, I mean—

This is the Don Levitar Show with the Stugatz.

We need, we need to get people around here to be more beholden to the audience. And so we're going to have to use the enforcement of Bryant McKinney here. And I'm going to involve him in this story in a second. He's obviously a Miami legend. He never allowed a sack in college, not even in practice. He's an All-Pro, a Super Bowl champion, and he's a 3-time Grammy-nominated executive producer, and I'll get his thoughts on this in a second. But let's first, to recap for the audience and for him, Jaylen Brown went very strong at Stephen A. Smith, and it sounded like this.

It's Stephen A.'s job, it is Kendrick Perkins' job, and it is my job to talk to the media. It ain't your job to be a clown. It ain't. And this whole playing the game, this delusion that y'all got that y'all running with, Y'all making it seem like I'm playing the game and I'm pulling the ladder down. Y'all ain't doing nothing but helping y'all motherfuckers selves, and I'm tired of that shit. Y'all not being a brother. And that's why people calling that shit out, and that's why people— I've came to that conclusion. And I'll tell Stephen A, whoever else, when they see him, when they see me in person, I will let you know that it's Stephen A, Stephen B, Stephen C, directly to your face. So you don't, you don't even know, like, it only got to be no You know what I mean? It is what it is.

I feel like we need to work on our, uh, Stephen A, Stephen B, Stephen C just doesn't really do much for me.

We gotta do better with the insults than that. Okay, but clown is pretty strong. Clickbait is pretty strong. And then Stephen A threatened him, which I don't think is in any way appropriate, does not in any way resemble journalism, but also threatens him with actually doing journalism.

Jalen Brown, be careful what you wish for. You really want me to start reporting on that level? You understand? Locker room, how the organization might think about you, how the city may feel about you, how Jayson Tatum may or may not have feel about you, sneaker deals, endorsement deals. The list goes on and on. The season is over, bro. You on Twitch trying to do what I do. And talking about me needing to step away. It makes no sense. I'm simply making the point that it is not wise after 24 hours of having your season over in the first round for you to be coming out talking about that's your favorite season. It ain't the smartest thing in the world to do. I wasn't trying to be disrespectful. I was trying to sit up there and look out by letting you know this is not a good look. When you're talking about clickbait and all of that stuff, somebody told you one of the best ways to get it is to bring up my name. And that's what you did. So who's really looking for clickbait?

They're both wrong here, to be clear, because Jalen Brown saying the things that he did when he said them make him an easy target on fair criticism. But Stephen A threatening him with, I'm going to do journalism. I'll do— I'll— don't make me, don't make me do my job correctly.

You thought I was good at entertaining? Wait till I really do reporting and do my actual job. What you think— what you people think I actually do. One thing on the Jaylen Brown situation, obviously signed a massive $300 million contract. What is that room he's in? Is it like a bunker?

Well, this is like— Stephen A had commentary on this as well, goes after him on this one as well.

Not gonna get personal. I did mean what I say though. Y'all, you didn't make $53 million this past year. You're gonna make $57 million next year and $61 after that and $67 after that. You, you, you, you, you could have video that's not relying on a laptop. You could have a damn studio instead of some damn room or dungeon or whatever the hell it is. Producer, director, hire somebody if you can. You can afford it. I meant what I said about that.

Cody, what are your thoughts here before we get to Bryant McKinney?

Uh, Stephen A, that's gold for Stephen A. Smith. Okay. The controversy, another, an athlete sniping at him is, is perfect. Perfecto. That's exactly what Stephen A wants. That's what he elicits. That's what he's hoping for.

And so it's all good with Stephen A. What a masterclass it was. I'm not, I'm not gonna get personal, but your shit is busted.

Yeah. Bryant, what are your thoughts here as you see the gulf widening between athletes and the people who cover them? You and I have always had a good relationship. You have always been accessible. I don't know what your general relationship was with the media throughout your career, but what are your thoughts on what you just heard there?

I feel like I had a good relationship with the media. I would like the media to stay professional, as I would do the same. Um, I think things can get a little carried away now in this day and age of social media because people do things for entertainment purposes, and it may not always come off being classy or most professional, but they feel like they're going to get more views.

Did you feel like you were ever covered unfairly? Did you ever feel like a reporter crossed the line with you specifically?

I feel like you had one situation I had when the Pro Bowl situation, when I didn't, when I didn't play, but it was already discussed that I was not able to play because I had an injury and that was made prior. So the way it was handled to me, I feel like when the trainer, the trainer from like Dallas Cowboys, He asked me to come in at a certain time. I came, he went out to dinner, you know what I'm saying? So it was like, hey, I'm here. He's like, oh, I went out with family, this and other. Um, I'll be back at this time. Okay, I waited. You came back, you moved the time again. Now this time I'm going out to dinner. So now it's like, now I'm out. And we made it clear I'm not playing. So whatever you got to do, just do it. But so now I didn't show up when he got back. I wasn't available. I came the next morning and I was like, oh, you missed this. And we already discussed I wasn't doing it.

It was reported, right? That was it unfair that it was reported that you were partying instead of doing the program? Exactly.

Everybody knew that. Everybody knew I had an injury prior, and I don't take the Toradol shot. I took it one time because we were in the NFC Championship game. That's the only reason why I took it. But other than that, it's like I just played through it. I don't take Toradol. I don't take all those things. How big was that needle? It was a while ago. I remember, but you gotta sign off a waiver and everything to take that and all that. So it's like, I'm not a fan of it. So I took it one time just because of— that was the first I've been in my career, and then it wore off by Wednesday. I forgot I took it because, you know, your body, it starts to wear off by like Tuesday or Wednesday. The pain comes back. Right. So by the time I got into practice, I was like, oh no, I'm not. I'm not taking a shot for no All-Star Game, so I'm not doing it. Get somebody else, bring another person back in. But I just won't do it.

I think they've banned Toradol shots since then, but it was a fairly common thing. Yeah, I don't think that Toradol is allowed in the NFL anymore, but I know that guys would just line up for that shot because— can you explain to us what that does specifically? The numbing agent?

It basically numbs. So if you have an injury or anything, it basically numbs it. Like in— to like Tuesday, maybe Wednesday. And but then it comes back. And then also the thing is you have to be careful is you don't want to aggravate the injury because it's numb, you know what I mean?

So but it numbs the area so that like you could use that muscle as if it's 100%, right?

Because your mind doesn't know. It seems so dangerous. Mine doesn't know it's still injured. So yeah, so that's what it does. So that was my only time I ever taken it. And then when I realized it wore off because I forgot, um, I was like, I'm not doing this again.

The body screams for a reason. It's to alert you that you shouldn't be doing something that puts it in danger.

Yeah, but then a little vitamin T in your system, Dano, and all of a sudden it's like, oh, I can run, dude, let's go.

But do you remember the feeling of when it kicked in? Do you remember? Because you said you never taken one before, so you took it for the first time because of the stakes of the situation. It was a hugely important game. And do you remember how it felt? Just didn't feel nothing.

You didn't— like, you didn't feel anything right away. It took about 30 minutes or so, and then you just, you don't feel any pain anymore. So now you're going out there playing at a high level because that's what, that's the purpose. And then, but when it wear off, you go back to that same original, uh, pain. And I had tore my arm, ended up being in both feet, so that's why I had to get the shot. What a sport, right? Y'all also have to remember, I never missed any games due to injury, so that was That's part of the reason why I had to take the things, because it was a championship game and it was like, all right, just suck it up for this one time.

I was actually looking it up, Dan. I was looking at his stats yesterday. He's only— he averaged less than a hold per season in his career. You had to hold more than that, right? Just not get caught.

Maybe some of them I might have got. There we go. I'm gonna tell you this too, I never got fined either my whole career, right, until my last season.

Like by the team or by the league?

You know, like the league, they say like you did something like So, um, the last— my last year, my 12th year, I get a fine letter and I'm like, what? But then guess what? Matt Burke, who was my center the year before, he's the guy over the fines. I was like, Matt, I went all this time, I've never got a fine letter in my life. So I guess what, I never got fined, y'all.

So how did that conversation go? What was the fine for and how did you talk him out of finding—

was it like a block or something I did that they were not sure if it was like illegal or if I did something wrong? And he said he reviewed it. He didn't feel like it was bad either. But I had gave him a— I kind of gave him a text message prior when I found out he was over. That was a position he had the year after he, you know, retired. And I'm like, oh, I got his number. Let me text him. Let me just give him a heads up. I just told him the story because I just hosted the Minnesota Vikings draft party on the 24th. So I just seen Matt there and I had to let him know. I said, you know, you saved me from like never being fine. He's got a Vikings podcast, Bryant does.

Believe in Vikings. Are you excited about Kyler Murray? Because last year was a bit of a disaster.

I am. And I've always wanted to have like a veteran quarterback there in case, you know, JJ doesn't make it through the season because he, he hasn't played a full season yet. So at least have somebody with veteran leadership in there that he can learn from who, you know, can just show him the ropes a little bit too.

I'm going to play for you some sound here of Dana White in a second. But after Rondale Moore's death, former NFL player Uh, Braden, uh, Fajeco posted this on Twitter. These NFL teams come out here and post these mental health awareness posts talking about they care about players, don't be afraid to reach out, etc., etc. All they care about is what you bring to the table when it's game day. Most players don't want to get help inside the building of an NFL organization because they know you'll get looked at differently. You go to a staff member, tell them you're struggling, watch how different they start treating and looking at you. I've seen it firsthand. Generally speaking, the The trainer's room is considered something that makes guys invisible if they're in there for too long. What are your thoughts on what it is that's being said there?

I agree with part of what he's saying. I do agree with the— I know a lot of players don't like to be in-house and discuss what they have going on because they feel like the head coach and everybody will find out. So I know that's like a stigma with everybody. But I can say based on each organization, because ever since I started my mental health awareness event, the Vikings have been a big sponsor. And the Vikings also hired me the past 3 years to come up and talk to the team on mental health, myself, a therapist, and I bring like a player like Ray Rice and Tommy Harris. I come there again this year in October to speak to the players, and this year they added the staff as well. So they're taking the steps to do what it is and have these conversations. Unfortunately, they lost a player during the offseason. So that's another strategy you got to work on now is how to communicate and keep these guys wheeled in when they're not present. But during the season, it's mandatory for them to have these conversations. The past 3 years I've been doing it in October.

How and why did you decide you're doing a fundraiser at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino? You can buy tickets online at brianmckinney.com. Why are you doing this and where did you break through in terms of being able to comfortably talk about some of this stuff?

Because when I retired, there was a couple of guys that retired around the same time as me and they were having trouble transitioning and they'd rather talk to me than their own family. You know what I'm saying? It's like we, we played the same sport. And, you know, guy got Baker Act. I had to go down there to the ward and sit there and know where he and I was like, call my mom cuz she's a part of the NFL Moms Association. So she was connecting people to the NFLPA, like how we can get people help cuz like their parents didn't know, like, you know what I'm saying? So it was like, and then the, the individual didn't want to talk with their family, share anything with their family. So it was like I had to step in and really help. So from there I was like, okay, this is a real thing. And then when things like this go wrong, we need to know who we can go to for help or like, you know, so the program, they send you away for like 30 days to like an area in Detroit. And I think another location like Jacksonville, they'll send players away for like 30 days for some type of treatment.

The event is this Thursday. It's at 7 p.m. and BryantMcKinney.com is where you go if you want to support what he's advocating here. But there are a lot of primitive cavemen saying what it is that Dana White is going to say here. You give me your reaction to what he says here.

I hate this whole men's mental health bullshit that they talk about. Um, unfortunately, when you're a man, you are the provider. You are the one that, that takes care of your family. Uh, you know, you, you are the example for your kids when they grow up, and your sons, you know, and your daughters, and, and And you, unfortunately, you, you, you can't be that guy that's— I see these guys posting on social media, oh, I had a bad day and I'm so sad, and all this other crazy shit. So unattractive. Oh, it's just, it's unattractive to other males, let alone women. I can't even imagine. Uh, yeah, I'm, I'm really against all that shit.

I mean, I feel like people go on vacations to like refresh and do things too for their mental health, you know what I'm saying? So a lot of things then somebody like him end up having a breakdown and then not have nobody to talk to. And like, you know, you feel like you're alone and be suffering in silence, but you would never know because you won't speak up.

No, the way to do it is just slap your wife. That's like, if you don't know what to do with your emotions, just drink a bunch and then slap your wife on video. Uh, the, the idea of it as weakness though, Brian, the idea of speaking to weakness, uh, instead of being viewed as a strength, that's the obstacle, is it not? Especially in football.

Yeah, this, this generation is more likely to speak, speak out. I feel like my generation, we didn't. Um, but me having these talks, I realized that they're very really engaged in the conversation and they want, they want somebody to talk to. I just feel like my generation doesn't want to talk like that, but, um, they want somebody to talk to because our sessions are like an hour, but we always run over the time. Because they're really engaged and they're trying to express what it is or how they feel. Don Lebatard.

He called me on my own podcast. He called me full of shit, claiming that I'm faking interest in the solar eclipse.

Well, you do do this. You love to just get excited about everything. Okay, Junior.

Stugatz. I had to school you and explain to you. He was gonna take you to Augusta.

I mean—

When I was 17 years old, Alan Cherry and I used to haunt the Buehler Planetarium.

This is the Don Lebatard Show with the Stugatz.

When you mentioned Baker Acting, for those of you who do not know what that is, that is arresting someone. I don't know if that's just Florida law. It's not just Florida law, right? It's all— it's national and international. Is it international as well? It's arresting someone when you think, or loved ones think, that they are a danger to themselves and others without invading the privacy of the player that you're talking about. What was the experience that you were going through, the specifics of it, the details that enlightened you to, wait a minute, this is something that I need to be involved in advocating for going forward.

It was two, it was two players, and I was close, you know, my mom is close with their, their parents, and I was close with them as well. And I was just seeing, and they would call me, and I, like, one of them got into a fight, but it was like he knew he was about to do it because he called me and told me prior. And I was like, call my mom, like, are you gonna have to bail, you call his mom to bail him out and stuff like that. And then the other person got Baker Acted, and their family told me, and I went down there to visit And I just realized, like, when I was sitting in that psych ward, like, this is real, like, you know what I mean? Like, um, so now let's figure out how to, like, treat it, you know, how we can make this situation better. And I feel like both individuals have been better since.

I feel like it's probably really uncommon, not just for someone like yourself that is willing and open to talk to other players about it, but you're clearly very willing and open to have your mother involved with it too. Oh yeah.

Because I needed to know, um, who I needed to talk to. So I called her, and she's also friends, you know, she's— the parents are all friends with each other too. So she was aware of, you know, what was going on.

I'm glad that you're doing this, Bryant, because Zazz right here normally just says you just take all the emotions.

Yeah, I shove it down real deep in my stomach.

Brown liquor, brown liquor, to never be seen again. It is something that seems, uh, dangerously male. Where do you see the mental health health conversation in the NFL now compared to even 5 years ago?

Um, it's, it's happening now. It wasn't happening as much 5 years ago. Um, I feel like a lot of teams are now mandatory having these conversations where they have to discuss mental health. And I think the Vikings are one of the teams, the first teams, you know, it probably started it where, you know, you have my team coming and we talk to them. But it's becoming a thing now, and you see these guys that are young that are passing away early from suicide and stuff like that. So it's like, it's there. So we just have to figure out what we can do to like kind of control it.

2 months ago, the NFL approved a full-time mental health clinician available for every team. During your playing career, was it ever okay to tell a teammate, I'm seeing a therapist?

If anything, teammates would talk to each other, but we wouldn't talk to nobody in-house because you feel like whatever you're saying in-house is going to go right back up to the head man. So it's like You kind of stayed away from that, and they— and that's what they had to kind of figure out, how to get away from that, making players feel like that. Because I felt like that, like we all feel like this. So it's like— and I know they still do. So they have to figure out how, somehow make it kind of separate. Nobody wants to feel like they're talking to somebody who's going to go talk to their boss, you know what I'm saying, to share their information. Because now I feel like, okay, you're going to cut me, and if you find I'm doing this, you know what I mean? But they have to figure it out though.

Brian, what's the —biggest remaining obstacle to getting rid of the stigma of mental health in the NFL? Is it the head coach himself, do you think, who still sees it as weakness?

I don't— so for the Vikings, I don't think he made his staff now a part of it. So I don't think he views it like that. I think he's very open to it. Certain teams, it's probably different for different teams, you know, case by case. But the Vikings have been nothing but proactive. That's all I can say. The rest of the organizations, I'm not sure.

I maintain that what it is that you did for a living by itself is a mental health obstacle course. You're fighting pain all the time and you are fighting others for money and your career is going to end short in most instances. And I just think that all of it, what you guys were doing daily, everyone looks at it and like, oh, that looks great, that looks fun. And Sundays are, or whatever day you're playing is fun. But did you enjoy the rest of the week?

Not every, not every day. There's something because you, you can't miss anything. So you've missed— I missed a bunch of funerals and things like that because there's no days off. Once you're there, it's like you're going to miss some things because you're in season and you're at work. So you have moments of people who've passed that I've missed going to their funerals and things like that because of work, and that can play with your mental a little bit too. But, um, For the most part, I enjoyed it. I mean, but you do have your moments where it can be draining a little bit, you know.

But yeah, I like what I did. CTE is, is still an overriding issue in the NFL. We don't associate it a lot or maybe enough with the offensive line position. How did you get through your career in terms of that kind of situation?

Nobody was big enough to hit him in the head.

That's what I'm thinking. But I don't know.

Right. I mean, you had your moments probably where you, I've had a couple collisions like that, but not probably as much as like a wide receiver, running back, but I've definitely had your moments here and there just because you're constantly on the field. I don't come off the field except, you know what I mean? You know, receivers and everybody come off. I'm there the whole time. So, and the quarterback. So, um, you have your moments, but I was able to do stuff like I take NAD+, like, you know, IVs. I do stuff like to try to reverse everything. NAD+ is good stuff.

It is. Was there, uh, was there any player who got multiple holding calls against you in your career? And any player that I held? Yes. What's there? Is there a player walking the earth today who can say, I made Bryant McKinney get a holding call twice?

I don't know if it's the same person going to say twice, but maybe, maybe once or something.

Who's the guy like you played against that you're like, I might have to try to hold this guy, this guy's pretty good?

When I first started, his name is KGB, Kabir Kabajibi Amila from Green Bay. He was real slippery. So my first— in my first 2 years, 2 or 3 years in the league, he was somebody who was like, yeah, I got to figure out something, knock him down, try to do something.

It wasn't— but it wasn't strength. It was slippery.

Yeah, because he was quick off the ball. He could get low. He could just do like a lot of things. So, yeah. And he was kind of tall too. So he had long arms.

As someone who, you know, like we mentioned, never gave up a sack while in college.

Not even in practice. What was—

like the jump. Did you have a moment in the jump from college to pro where you noticed what a huge difference it is for you?

It was more technique and the guys getting off the ball. They— the defense can— he can read the quarterback, he can read just different things, read your stance. So it's just more about just having experience and knowing what to read. Where in college a little bit, you can kind of overpower people just with your size.

Give me somebody that, uh, the strength strength of the person, because nobody's usually stronger than you. Did you run into anybody whose strength was consistently a problem? Yeah, I'm gonna say two people.

Um, Justin Smith. He was not the same Justin Smith when he was with the Bengals, but then when he got to the 49ers, it was a whole different Justin Smith, and he became very strong. Hello, Dinata. Hello, Dinata from, um, the Ravens. I went against him as a Viking, and he's a pretty big, strong—

wait a minute, what? He's in the middle. What's he doing on the outside?

Sometimes he'll be a 3 technique and try to like run a game on me or something like that. And then even, um, you know about that game, Dan? Sean Rodgers from Detroit, he would be inside, but it was like they like to face me sometimes. They'll like line up against me. He's like, all right, all right, all right.

Now who's the opposite? The guy there, like, I'm gonna pick— I'm gonna pick this person up and throw him with—

it was disrespectful that he was trying to beat you you?

Uh, I don't know. Dwight Freeney at Syracuse. That was like my rival, you know. I faced him all the way up until the Super Bowl season. That was the first round of the playoffs, and we kind of lined up against each other and kind of like chuckled before we put our hand down in the dirt because it's like, here we go again.

How many times would you have a play, like maybe the game is a blowout, how many times you have a play where you had that agreement with the guy in front of you like, yo, let's, let's just cool it for a couple?

In the— so no, No, because me and Dwight Freeney had that one time in like the preseason. He felt like I was going super hard and all that, but I don't trust you. So it was like, you might try to get one now. So it was like, I'm going super hard. But he's like, it's the preseason, calm down.

I'm like— So you negotiated a deal, but your partner was lying.

Yeah, I still wasn't sure. So I still was like just trying to be ready just to be on point just in case. Like, don't lull me to sleep.

I don't trust you. You made a deal. You made a bargain on the line of scrimmage. Was there anybody who dared talk trash to Bryant McKinney?

Nobody really said anything to me. Ever? Not really, no. People would talk to me about random stuff like, oh, I seen you on South Beach, you had the wet willys, stuff like that. I'm like, what are you talking about? I didn't really talk much. I'm like, why are you talking about me? But like, I would hear like Warren Sapp would cuss out Anthony Herrera, the guard inside. Like, I would hear some people get cussed out. Nobody— They'd tell me to mind my business because I'd try to step in. Right.

No, nobody really said anything. Maybe not talking to you, but like a guy on defense where you're just like, that guy's crazy.

Crazy. There's guys out there who talk, but nobody ever addressed me directly and said anything like that. Smart. What is your preferred drink at Wet Willys?

Is it the 180 Octane, or is there something better than Superman?

With that, it's Superman.

So it's a mixture of like 180 and something, the blue, uh, blue drink, but it's called Superman.

Blue Dream.

What, what was your, uh, spot of preference on South Beach? Was it indeed Wet Willys, or was it somewhere else?

At one point it was. Wet Willys was the, the place to go to. Then you had Nikki Beach, and you had Opium Gardens, or Amnesia Amnesia and all that. Um, remember that?

Like, I don't, but I've been only told stories. I'm, I'm younger than you guys, so I don't have the, the— I wasn't able to go out at that time, but I remember my older, uh, brother-in-law telling me about Nikki Beach, about, yeah, Amnesia, about— what was the other one? Uh, Treehouse or something like that.

Mansion. You had a crowbar level. Yeah, crowbar. Come on.

Who, uh, who was the person that, uh, you had a bottle buying competition against, uh, at during the Super Bowl week? I think that was Braylon Edwards. Yeah, I think I saw Lil' Kim on your shoulder.

Oh, yes, she was. She was there. What were you doing there, Dan? Dan, you was there?

Lil' Kim was on his shoulder.

Oh, that way? I was imagining—

You had a chicken fight. You had a chicken fight side.

Just like a parrot, like on a pirate's shoulder. One side of his shoulder. Let's play the sound of Aaron Rodgers, and I want to see if he's ever had a defensive end come at him that he thought was crazy.

Aaron Rodgers, Kyle Vanden Bosch story.

Kyle was a very good player for a number of years. He used to wear red contacts, which was— he didn't need because he was already teetered on the edge of insanity. So I remember, you know, one time he got me and he was kind of, you know, he wasn't getting off me. He's like, I got you good. I'm like, he hit me in the head though. He goes, no way. I was like, no, I think it's gonna be a penalty. He goes, no. Also, another play involving him, we ran a, uh, like a 7-man protection. He looped from his end and our fullback kind of blasted him a little bit. He wasn't looking, so Kyle thought it was a cheap shot, and instead of getting up and chasing the play down, he chased the fullback down, ended up running a route out to the right. It was like, I'll kill you, I'm gonna kill you.

I can see that. And I already knew he was going to say red contacts. I've seen it before too. I didn't know if that was supposed to be like an intimidation factor or not, but he is one player who I didn't never have trouble with, but I feel like he was a good player, but I didn't have an issue with him.

What are you saying Justin Smith did? Got stronger. Brian McKinney.com, uh, he's got, uh, B Major Foundation is hosting its 4th annual Cocktails and Conversation, a mental health awareness fundraiser at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino. Bryant, it's always nice to see you. I am happy that you are now going to be our enforcer and make these guys wear their costumes. Thank you, sir.

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