What’s the story?
ESPN.com released a story recently about the 26th overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft Takkarist McKinley (known as Takk) where he revealed that WWE Hall Of Famer Booker T helped him create a bond with his grandmother.
McKinley was quoted as saying, “He hit me up on Twitter and was just telling me, 'Continue to make your grandmother proud. I'm proud of you, and let's keep up the good work.' And him doing that, he didn't have to do that. That just shows there's a lot of people out there that's supporting me and want me to do great.”
In case you didn’t know...
When the Atlanta Falcons drafted Takk, he came down the stairs to the stage holding a portrait of his late grandmother as seen in the above picture. He gave a passionate interview with Deion Sanders of the NFL Network about the promise he made to her that he would go to college and make the NFL, just 30 minutes before she passed away.
The heart of the matter
Booker T influenced Takk at a young age as the latest NFL draft pick was over at his grandmother’s house every Monday and Friday to watch wrestling (Raw & Smackdown). Takk said that it was his grandmother’s favourite thing to do, but at the same time, it kept Takk out of trouble by not being out in the streets.
Monday Night Raw reaches the Atlanta area later this month, and Booker T is going to try to arrange a face to face meeting with Takk. It is possible that Takk will be at college in UCLA at that time, so if it doesn’t work out this time, they’ll make something work eventually.
What’s next?
Booker T continues to fill in as a commentator on Monday Night Raw for David Otunga, who is filming a movie. Takk will wrap up his semester at UCLA and then head to Atlanta for training camp as he prepares for his rookie season.
Author’s Take
McKinley holding up the picture of his grandmother was one of the best moments of the draft because the emotions were so real. Even though he dropped an expletive on live television and was given advice by Deion to harness that emotion in a positive way, it didn’t detract from the moment.
I can relate to the relationship with Takk’s grandmother and professional wrestling. I spent a lot of Saturday nights with my grandmother watching Sting and Ric Flair on TBS during the NWA and WCW days. The entire story is truly amazing, and I can’t wait to hear about their first ever face to face meeting.
