Vikings' McKinnie, from Woodbury High

Bryant McKinnie took a longer route than most players to an NFL career with the Minnesota Vikings.

After his high school career at Woodbury in South Jersey, McKinnie played 2 years at Lackawanna Junior College in Scranton. While at Lackawanna, he bulked up by 70 pounds and attracted attention from major colleges.

From Lackawanna, he earned a scholarship to the University of Miami, where after a redshirt year in 1999, he started at offensive left tackle for 2 years.

During his Hurricanes career, McKinnie did not allow a sack and was named All-America both years. As a senior in 2001, he won the Outland Trophy, given to the best lineman in college football, and finished eighth in the Heisman Trophy voting. Nebraska quarterback Eric Crouch won the Heisman that year.

"I knew I wanted to attend college since I was a kid; education was one of the things that I knew was extremely essential in my life and completing college was something I wanted to accomplish," McKinnie wrote on his blog. "Years later I can now say I am a proud graduate of University of Miami. I want aspiring athletes or anyone to know that education is beyond invaluable."

McKinnie, 30, is 6-8, 335 pounds. His nickname is Big Mac. He was drafted seventh overall by the Vikings. His entire 8-year career has been spent in Minnesota. He has started 115 of 116 games. He was selected for this year's Pro Bowl, his first.

If his Vikings beat the Saints in Sunday's NFC Championship Game, he will not play in the Pro Bowl because he will be in his first Super Bowl, in Miami. That would be an appropriate homecoming.

"It would mean a lot, feeling like going back to where you went to college and you get the chance to play in front of a lot of friends and family back in Miami for the Super Bowl," McKinnie wrote on his blog this week. *