So long, and thanks for all the snaps
Mar 25, 2008 2008 Season, Alex Gibbs, Roster
Rotoworld is reporting that C Steve McKinney, an original Texan, has been cut.
From a purely business point-of-view, the news isn’t a surprise. Between his knee injury last year and the smorgasbord of centers we have signed or traded for in the off-season, the message was there.
Still, the ex-Aggie workhorse (that’s for you, beef. I love you, man!) put a lot of effort into the team over his years. In fact, before his injury in 2007, he was having an excellent season, and the running game suffered noticeably after his injury.
McKinney has said he’d like to return at a reduced cost, and he may, but he’ll still have a ton of competition to stick on the active roster.
I won’t make this his official Texans obit, but the time is probably nigh. Thanks for all the work and good luck, Steve.
Note: So, the hosting provider had a bit of a hurl this afternoon, so this is waaaaay late getting posted. Still, I wrote the damn thing, so it’s going up.
Oh, and I hope the title reference is obvious enough.
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March 25th, 2008 at 6:00 pm
Steve McKinney is a great American.
He had a radio show with the morning guys in town, and had some hunting buddy of his defend him over something silly with the above statement. It was the most hilarious radio interview ever.
Coming off of injuries is a mean business. It is why I never begrudge a player trying to get paid because NFL contracts are rough.
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March 25th, 2008 at 6:21 pm
I love the guy and I want him to come back - but if he gets a good deal, I hope he takes it. He’s a tough bastard, and guys like that deserve the biggest contract they can get… he’s got business ventures in Houston, so he’ll be back in retirement, and I imagine will still show up on the radio from time to time. He’s got killer charisma, and I’m sad to see him go.
That said - because of the aforementioned business ventures, I think there’s a very good chance he takes less to stay with the Texans. He knows he’s near the end of the line - and he’s been working very vigorously on getting his businesses up and running… assuming he has a lot of money in the bank, it may not be worth it to him to have to cut back on the time he pours into his ventures for a bigger contract in another city.
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March 25th, 2008 at 7:03 pm
@Steph: To me, that’s what makes McKinney an elite. He plays hard, he works hard, and he also got the education necessary to succeed in the next life. There are a ton of parallels to the awesome Ray Childress here.
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Watching the Horns game on Sunday, I was gushing all over DJ Augustin. Sure, he struggled on Sunday, but he’s still a likely 1st round pick in the NBA. AND, he’s an academic All-American. You gotta love that.
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And I won’t even talk about my man-crush on Derek Lokey and Frank Okam.
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March 25th, 2008 at 7:48 pm
Given salary cap considerations and how much you have to pay vet minimums, I am guessing McKinney won’t be back as a Texan.
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March 26th, 2008 at 2:40 pm
thanks for the shout out, bfd!
sorry I’ve been absent lately. My job’s Big Brother must’ve noticed how much time i was spending here, and blocked the site, so I’m left with home internet time for my dgdb&d fix. the love is still there though, boys!
Oh, and we could’ve done without you bringing up Lokey and Okam here. Give the friggin Aggie his peace on his interweb eulogy!
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March 26th, 2008 at 3:24 pm
I swear, the Man is out to get me. How is it that we manage to get banned all over the place but KSK goes on nearly unscathed?
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March 26th, 2008 at 4:07 pm
I think the Chron is sabotaging you. Reporting you to all the interwebs services designed to protect children.
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March 26th, 2008 at 4:35 pm
Anyone who owns a stake in Freebird’s helped pay my salary six years ago, so in addition to all the aforementioned positives, there’s one more reason to love McKinney.
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March 26th, 2008 at 5:36 pm
@Rob — What attracted you to the job at Freebird’s? Was it the health benefits, 401k, or the fact that they don’t drug test?
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March 26th, 2008 at 7:09 pm
@grungedave: Given that Pancakes is almost certainly a pedophile, that is rather ironic.
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March 26th, 2008 at 7:26 pm
@Matt - Just because she’s as dumb as a 10 year old doesn’t mean that Pancakes is a pedophile.
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March 26th, 2008 at 7:34 pm
@Steph
I’d have to say it was the unlimited supply of refried beans…or “reefer” as we called them.
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March 26th, 2008 at 7:45 pm
I think it’s because you haven’t been meeting your weekly dick-joke quota, Matt. Hop to it!
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March 26th, 2008 at 10:07 pm
Dick jokes? From Matt???
C’mon!!! He’s better than that.(?)
Did someone bring up Hilton to him again?
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March 26th, 2008 at 10:12 pm
@steph: btw, what makes a “great American?” White, Zero felonies, a rad tattoo, and a possible love of hunting and the nascar?
I saw you and others mention that in other posts, and just wanted a clarification. And if that’s the case (as much as I love Steve), is that the America we want to live in??
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March 27th, 2008 at 9:05 am
@15 beef-
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The Great American thing is sort of an inside joke from the morning guys at 1560 the Game, back from when they were on 610.
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McKinney has been one of the few Texans who dishes a little (but always within bounds and not hurting the team). You know one of the few Texans to actually show his personality instead of being a skeered Texans robot. He has a buddy named Raymond who he hunts and fishes with. And Raymond is hilarious.
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As I recall, somebody called in and complained about the way that Steve McKinney hunted. And his really country buddy Raymond called in and went on this huge rant defending McKinney, including saying that “Steve McKinney is a great American.” It was hysterical.
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Unfortunately, I think the original clip of that was lost during the transfer from 610 to 1560.
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You can hear some of Raymond’s funny stuff on the radio clips I linked to in my recent McKinney post. I couldn’t figure out which of the segments had Raymond in it because my internet connection was being wonky and kept cutting off. I’d try to explain what Raymond said, but translating it to regular English makes it lose all its effect.
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It was a interview worth listening to, though rambling, so if you are just goofing around on your computer, you might want to give it a listen.
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If Steve McKinney is a great American, then I suppose the group of great Americans includes people who eat Whataburger while sitting on the toilet taking a dump. (also something that came up in old radio interviews). I just got back from a long road trip, and well, given what I saw of America, I think there is a place among great Americans for someone like that.
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March 27th, 2008 at 9:32 am
Matt, I can’t knock Pancakes for his Anna-Megan thing… while she’s borderline retarded, I’ve been known to have a thing for the, uh, younger women, too.
(Then again, I’m 30 and Pancakes is like 80.)
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March 27th, 2008 at 10:10 am
@steph: You mean “wonky” like Carr’s throwing motion?
Thank you for the clarification. I live in scenic Waco, TX so I don’t get the pleasure of all the good texans based talk radio. might look into this internet thing though. It sounds neato.
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March 27th, 2008 at 12:15 pm
I hope the Texans don’t draft Heath Benedict in the third round as had been discussed, because he’s dead. Oops.
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=3314762
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March 27th, 2008 at 4:49 pm
@18 beef
Yes, pretty much the same definition of “wonky.” Though the web feed didn’t make me mad enough to cuss.
It’s worth checking out the podcast feeds from the different sports radio stations in town. I’ve been on them to store their Texans-oriented interviews, so you can often find info that isn’t in print.