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October 3
Because of the food poisoning, this was a pretty rough week for me. I ended up getting food poisoning last week and it really got to me. I thought I got it out of my system but I didn’t. We had a BBQ and there were some scalloped potatoes that nobody ate, and I guess it was left out for a while, so I ate some of it. I guess that’s what it was that got me sick because nobody else had eaten it and nobody else got sick. Just me. I wasn’t feeling well at all. I though I would be better for the game against the Packers, but I wasn’t. I got sick on the sideline a few times. I had to get an IV before halftime, but that didn’t help much. So the coaches took me out of the game in the 4th quarter. And on top of all of that, I broke my left hand and was playing with a broken hand. I played the worst game I’ve ever played in my life.

10-4
There was a rumor started that I was going to get traded to Tampa Bay. Tampa Bay lost their running back & left tackle for the year and they wanted me, Chester or Mewelde but Vikings said no. I was standing next to Chester Taylor in the airport and we were talking. Then all of a sudden all these rumors start circulating that we’re both getting traded to the Bucs. My coach had to call me and tell me that whatever I’m hearing isn’t true. It just isn’t true. Everybody started calling me, my agent, my publicist, my family and friends, asking me if this was true. So I had to tell them that my coach assured me that they weren’t talking to the Bucs about trading me at all.  It was a crazy rumor.

September 30, 2007
This season has been going ok so far. I feel like we’ve played a lot of close games where we just haven’t been fortunate enough to pull it out at the end. The general feeling on the team is that everybody still has a lot of hope.  We know it’s still early, we have plenty of time, and the morale is still up. As far as the quarterback situation, Kelly has had to step up and fill in so all we can do is support him in the meantime. Now I bet a lot of people wonder what the difference is in the locker room with a win vs. a loss … When we win, everyone is more talkative. When there’s a loss, everyone is quiet.  There may be a little talking but not nearly as much – no one wants to seem like they’re not focused when there’s a loss. And right after the game there’s barely any talking. When there’s a win everybody’s talking and celebrating and discussing what they’re going to do that night.  Today is Green Bay.  This is going to be a big rivalry game and we’re excited!!

September 29, 2007
The NFL seems to be changing a lot – a lot has been in the news lately, so I figured I’d comment on that.  Commissioner Goodell is cracking down on a whole lot of things.  He’s only been there for two years, but he’s really making some changes --  just really coming down and making a statement and let everyone know he is running a tight ship.  The players know now, you have to be very careful with what you do.  You have to think outside the box, stay in line, and protect yourself the best you can.  The players are now a lot more fearful of consequences too -- it’s been interesting to see these changes.
One thing though: now the cheerleaders can’t stretch in front of the visiting teams anymore because it is too much of a distraction? Now, that might be going a little too far. I mean, what’s football without cheerleaders??
 

Bryant's ESPN Interview

August 17, 2007

We've been good to the rookies this year.  With the new coach, you are not allowed to mess with them at all.  Now, Coach Tice was different.  He would allow us to make them stand up and sing and stuff. Tice had been through it, himself. He knew that was tradition.  But the new coach isn't really a big fan of it. He will allow us to do talent shows and stuff like that but as far as hazing and cutting their hair off and stuff, he doesn't allow it.

The worst thing I've ever heard of players do to rookies is probably when they make a rookie take them out to dinner and the bill is like $10,000.   It's usually like a first round pick or something like that because they know they can afford it.

I've heard of players' bills being really outrageous.  When they go to eat they don't just eat, they go to drink so it raises the bill. Especially if you got like ten other people with you! They go find like the best restaurants in town and go do it up, they rent limos, order Champagne, and do a whole bunch of stuff.

I had to do it when I was a rookie, but my bill wasn't that expensive. With me, we didn't rent any limos; we all met at the place.  We just went there and I paid for everyone's meal. It didn't get outrageous.  I was definitely one of the lucky ones!

August 16, 2007  

We are traveling today since we play the Jets tomorrow, that means no cafeteria food.  Actually, the cafeteria food is decent at times, but it does get old so sometimes we might go somewhere around here to eat.  A lot of the time we go to this place called Jimmy Johns—a hoagie shop—and they have a Red Lobster here.  They also have a place nearby with some good buffalo wings.  There are some good options, actually, if you don't want to eat the cafeteria food.   

Now, if you do eat in the cafeteria, they have certain ways to tell you about the nutritional content of the food.  When you go up there, there are a bunch of signs with the name of the food and each food has a dot.  Green, yellow, or red.  It's like a green dot means you can go ahead and eat it—it's healthy, a yellow dot means take it easy, and a red dot means it's fattening. …So they let you know if it's good for you by the color.  

August 15, 2007  

On every team, there is a guy on the staff whose job it is to go and get the guys who are going to be cut—they walk up to the player and say "Bring your playbook to the office, the coach wants to see you."  Some teams call the him The Turk, some call him The Grim Reaper, I don't know what we call him. While we're here at training camp, no one really gets cut too much. It usually happens when we get back that the guy will come to the meeting room and come get them out.  

 The young guys actually don't even know who the guy is until they see him starting to come and get people.  Then they'll start getting worried when he walks into the room.  It's rough on them, no doubt--it means some player is going to lose his job.  

A couple years ago, he came and got one of my teammates and took him up there.  I can't remember what player it was, but he got his playbook, went up there, talked to the coach and convinced the coach not to cut him.  He ended up being here for the whole season.  I'd never heard of anyone talking the coach out of getting cut before—but it happened!

August 14, 2007

So I guess by now everyone has read about what that Chiefs' rookie said on HBO.  In case you didn't--he said our tackles are soft.  He was speaking about us as a unit—he wasn't directing it at anyone or pointing anyone out.  Still, I'm part of that unit—he was talking about all of us, so of course I had to say something back.  Although, what he said didn't really even make sense anyway--you gotta remember that was practice.  It wasn't a game. 

So right now, for the first part of camp, we are staying in the dorms at Minnesota State University in Mankato.  It's okay.  I'd rather be home but it gets you away from distractions for about 2 ½ weeks.  We stay in regular dorm rooms, but you better believe I don't have to sleep in a twin bed!  That's what would normally be in these dorms-- college twin beds.  I don't know what everybody else has, but they put two kings in my room.  I mean, could you really see me trying to sleep on a twin bed?

Where each team stays really varies around the league.  Not all teams have dorms--like the Dolphins don't have to stay in dorms.  I know this because Vernon Carey—a tackle for the Dolphins—calls me all the time and reminds me, "Ohhhhhhh I get to stay in a hotel."  Obviously that's a lot better than the dorms.

Actually, a lot of the guys I know from other teams call me and say that kind of stuff--like Willis McGahee—who's now with the Ravens—called me on Sunday trying to rub it in my face, telling me they have extra days off and whatever.  They love to compare their situations to me—laugh at me and say how good they have it.  I'm like "must be nice…" but everything with the Vikings has been the same since I've been here, so I'm used to it!

August 13, 2007

Sad news to report … A longtime friend of mine friend just passed away last week. That's been tough.  What was really awful, too, is that he passed away while his parents were on a cruise so when they got back to the port they had to hear that news. We grew up together in Jersey and we went to school together. I've known him since 6^th or 7^th grade, maybe even before that.

The funeral is in New York on Wednesday, but I don't know if I'll be able to go because of all of the traveling for our pre-season game against the Jets.  If I didn't have to travel it would be different.  I don't know if I can even go and get back on time on Thursday, which is when we leave to go to New York.  And if I was to leave on Wednesday morning I'd still have to miss practice.  We start to install stuff on Wednesday in preparation for the Jets, and I really can't miss it.  If I were to go to the funeral, I wouldn't know anything and we've got a game on Friday.  This is one tough thing about this job where you have to make decisions like this especially--when it's someone you grew up with. But I don't know what else to do.  I did not even tell the coaches because I'm just thinking about the situation I'll be in.

And what's so crazy is this is the second friend I've had pass away within two months.  I had another friend pass away at the end of June.  He killed himself.  I found out while I was at the BET awards. He reminded me of myself, someone who was a strong-minded person who was a leader and an extension of me—so this was really, really shocking.  Both of these guys are about the same age as me too… 28 … 29…so I really don't know what's going on.

I didn't go to the other funeral back in June. I felt bad because I had lost touch with him for a couple of months. Maybe he was trying to get in touch with me because he was in trouble. And maybe I would've been able to help him. Maybe he lost my number. I don't know. I figured for him to hang himself he must have been going through something heavy and maybe he was trying to reach out to me and maybe he was unable to get in touch with me. So I've really felt guilty for not keeping in touch with him.

It's tough to lose friends, but it does make you take a second and put a lot of things into perspective.  I know that dealing with these losses has made me stronger, ultimately. 

August 6, 2007

The Vikings hold their training camp in Mankato, MN.  The most exciting thing about Mankato is Walmart.  This whole town is at Walmart, all the players are at Walmart … everybody's at Walmart all the time.  As for the players, you go and get comforters and stuff like that for your dorm room.  Not to decorate, just to be comfortable while you're sleeping. Then we go to Best Buy and get some CDs and DVDs. At Walmart, I got egg crates, comforters, pillows—stuff like that.  Then I went to Best Buy and bought an I-Pod and DVD player.  I also bought three seasons of "The Wire" because I've never watched it before and heard it was really good. I try to watch a couple episodes before I go to bed at night to catch up before the new season starts.

But getting back to Mankato—it's a good town and this community is great to us.  It's always nice to see the people of Mankato and all the fans come out to watch us practice.  We really appreciate their support!

August 5, 2007

I don't mind camp at all.  Some people feel like, "what's the purpose?"—but it gets you in shape. There are a lot of people who hate it, and there definitely aren't a lot of people who actually say they love going to camp.  Actually, nobody says they love it.  If I had to say, though, the best thing about it is establishing a good relationship with the people you're working with and of course it helps you out as far as perfecting your timing and all that.

Still, it does get boring seeing the same people all of the time.  You can't really get away and relax—even at night.  Last night I didn't do anything but get my hair braided.  I had to get that done—I really needed it.  Today was our day off and, well, I haven't really done anything—but that's the point:  What are you going to do on your day off?  Rest mostly—because we do something every other day out of the week.  On my days off at training camp, I mostly just play video games and watch tv.

Now, the worst thing about camp is the beginning.  You've got to get started, and everyone knows, physically, it's going to be a long, grueling process for the first couple days. You know you are going to be sore and all that.  People are really tired and sore after the 2^nd and 3^rd day.  After the 4^th or 5^th day you start to get used to it, then after scrimmages about a week later people are ok.

August 4, 2007

I came to camp with a strained hamstring so I was spending a lot of time in rehab for the first five days--but I've been back practicing now.  It was kind of frustrating the first couple days not being able to practice, but it would've made things worse if I had.  You have to be careful with hamstring injuries because pushing it too hard before it's healed can really aggravate it and set you back even more.

I learned a lot in the off season: what the coaches expect out of me and what they wanted me to do technique-wise.  Since I got here I've just been catching up on everything. We had a scrimmage Friday and Saturday against Kansas City. Overall, the team was better Saturday than Friday. We were a little more comfortable—sometimes it just takes time with to get the team together and in sync.

F2fA

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