It’s no secret that Bryant McKinnie likes to party. His love of getting his groove on became only too apparent during Pro Bowl week a couple years ago when he elected to enjoy himself rather than practice, a shuffling of priorities that ended up getting him thrown off the team.
Given Bryant’s free-spirited nature and show-biz connections, it should be no shock that he was among the revelers at a wild NBA All-Star Weekend shindig in Hollywood hosted by rapper Rick Ross and model Rosa Acosta. What might shock some, though, is the way McKinnie threw money around at that particular party.
According to TMZ, the well-paid Vikings left tackle had the other rich folks at the club staring in awe when he ordered 15 bottles of champagne, including a few so gigantic they almost had to be brought out with a forklift. In all, McKinnie reportedly dropped $100,000 on booze at the party.
A rich athlete blowing that kind of money on booze really isn’t that surprising. What is surprising – or maybe just silly – is the fact that McKinnie threw this much cash around at the same time NFL owners are gearing up to lock out the players.
Now might be a good time for someone to pull Bryant aside and explain to him that if the owners lock out the players, he ain’t gonna be getting paid. Then again, we do know Bryant has a lot of interests outside football. Perhaps these revenue streams will be sufficient to keep the champagne flowing even if the NFL takes a year off.
I hope for Bryant’s sake he does have enough money to get him through the lockout. Would be a shame for him to have to curtail his free-spiritedness.
And for any Viking fans who might be miffed at McKinnie’s extravagance in the face of all the money problems the rest of us are facing in these trying economic times…well, look at the bright side: At least he didn’t smack anyone with a pole.
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