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Remember that firm I told you about that is owned by Darien Dash, Jay-z’s former business partner Damon Dash’s cousin? The one that was helping arrange loans for cash strapped players during the lockout? The one that sounded seedier than all get out but you didn’t hear that from me?

Well apparently right before the lockout began Ravens LT Bryant McKinnie borrowed money using the firm’s services and never paid it back. This season, the firm will seek to garnish McKinnie’s wages:

Baltimore Ravens offensive lineman Bryant McKinnie could lose about $4.5 million in wages due to a lawsuit filed in New York Supreme Court and a related case in Baltimore alleging he failed to repay a loan taken out last year.

Pro Player Funding, a private New York sports lending agency, alleges in a November lawsuit that McKinnie took out a loan of about $4.2 million in February 2011 in anticipation of the NFL’s player lockout that lasted about five months last year. Pro Player says McKinnie failed to repay that loan, as well as a separate loan of about $229,000 he took out in July.

The Ravens management, according to court documents, has agreed with both McKinnie and Pro Player Funding to garnish McKinnie’s future wages in the coming season, placing the funds in an escrow account until a second lawsuit in Baltimore City Circuit Court is settled.

In that lawsuit, Pro Player is seeking to recover the money from McKinnie’s future wages this season. But lawyers representing McKinnie filed a counterclaim alleging that Pro Player Funding’s loans were unscrupulous and that the loan agency failed to advance McKinnie at least $1.7 million of the original $4.2 million loan. That lawsuit is still open.

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Unfortunately for McKinnie the amount of the lawsuit is more than he’s even slated to make this coming season (around 3 million). McKinnie is somewhat on thin ice having struggled to stay in shape and having been pretty average last season. This week Raven Coach Harbaugh made it clear that they continue to monitor McKinnie’s weight and that they need him to be quicker and fresher this season.

When McKinnie was cut from the Vikes I really thought his football career was over. I wondered why the Ravens picked him up. Well after going through some interview tape, I found video of Ed Reed from last year essentially saying he vouched for McKinnie (both are former Hurricanes) to Ravens management (along with Ray Lewis) and had promised to work out with him if that’s what it took to keep him in shape.

For McKinnie’s part, he’s steady prepping for the release of one of his artist’s albums. Yes, he owns a record label.