Giving lazy people everywhere a bad name

An interesting post from ESPN's Kevin Seifert on Thursday, as he interviewed Bryant McKinnie about the Pro Bowl thing.

I haven't been surprised by the disgust Vikings fans have expressed over McKinnie's dismissal from the Pro Bowl for going AWOL. However, I do think that disgust is misguided.

Certainly McKinnie's behavior was unprofessional. But I wasn't disgusted or embarrassed by it. I mean, I don't really care what McKinnie does at 3 a.m. in the morning or what strip club he Tweets from.

What I do care about, however, is how McKinnie performs on the field every Sunday. And that's what makes his handling of this Pro Bowl business a bit disturbing.

If McKinnie will blow off the Pro Bowl and think nothing of it, how hard is he working at his craft during the offseason and the regular season to be the best left tackle he can be?

McKinnie's been a Viking since 2002. During his tenure in Minnesota, he's frequently been okay, occasionally been good, but rarely – if ever – been great. It's not exactly the kind of career you'd expect from a top 10 draft pick.

I can't help but think that the Pro Bowl incident provided us with some valuable insight into why that's been the case.

Maybe Bryant McKinnie just doesn't work very hard.

Rookie of the Year
Thankfully, effort doesn't seem to be a problem for Percy Harvin, who was chosen as the Pepsi Rookie of the Year on Thursday.

I don't know what Harvin will do to top his rookie season, but one thing I hope the Vikings do try is give Harvin the ball a bit more regularly in running situations. And I don't mean on reverses or end-arounds, either. I mean lining up Harvin in the backfield as a running back and handing him the ball.

This is something the Vikings finally did in the playoffs and it was very effective. If Chester Taylor signs elsewhere (and I think he will), there will be some carries up for grabs. I hope they don't all go to Albert Young.

Posnanski on Favre
This column is almost two months old, but it is so good I had to link to it.

If you've always wondered about Brett Favre's appeal, I think Joe Posnanski pretty much nails it in that piece.