The notion of former Vikings offensive lineman Bryant McKinnie and other ex-teammates promoting a boat cruise on Lake Minnetonka seems like a headline ripped from straight from The Onion, but if 2021 has taught us anything it's that: 1) We live in a strange timeline. 2) Times and attitudes change. 3) People change.
Bryant McKinnie, other former Vikings 'legends' promoting another Lake Minnetonka boat cruise
One would imagine the cruise will be a little different than the one 16 years ago.
June 3, 2021 at 4:41PM
As such, we have no reason to believe that there is anything untoward about this actual event — 6-8 p.m. on June 18 — which was promoted on Twitter by former Vikings safety Robert Griffith as a "a fun summer experience" during which fans will have a chance to hang out and get autographs from Griffith, Byron Chamberlain and McKinnie.
That would stand in contrast to the time Vikings players set sail on the lake during their bye week in the 2005 season, the details of which you are welcome to Google if you are unfamiliar.
Surely it's no accident that the players have chosen Lake Minnetonka for their 16 years later cruise (Griffith and Chamberlain, it should be noted, weren't with the Vikings in 2005).
There can't be many better ways to generate publicity for a $125 lake cruise than to return to the scene of reported infamy.
McKinnie, by the way, has talked openly about the history of the first cruise — including when I spoke with him before the Super Bowl in Minneapolis a few years back.
"Everybody's had a little bump in the road," McKinnie said in 2018. "That was just a fun bump. And a fun boat."
When he was hired after the disastrous 2016 season to reshape the Twins, Derek Falvey brought a reputation for identifying and developing pitching talent. It took a while, but the pipeline we were promised is now materializing.
