The entire team gathered in a circle, many convinced Yanda would chicken out.
"I grew up on a farm," Yanda said. "I've been shocked a lot by electric fences for cattle. And we had an outlet in our shop that would shock you all the time. I've been shocked plenty of times before."
Over the years, the legend of what happened that day has grown. Players who weren't there talk about it as though Yanda got hit with 50,000 volts by a police-grade Taser. But he just rolls his eyes when he hears that.
"They really hyped it up like I got Tasered," Yanda said. "It was a stun gun, and I don't even know if the batteries were fully charged. It wouldn't have stopped a 10-year-old worked up into a rage."
McAlister zapped Yanda once and the locker room went nuts. Convinced he should make them feel they got their money's worth, Yanda told McAlister and Rolle to zap him again. They did, and he barely blinked. He scooped up the cash and uttered a quote that left everyone in awe.
"That's the easiest 600 bucks I've ever made in my life."
Lucky man
Yanda doesn't need to indulge in such youthful foolishness these days. Not only has his bank account grown, but he has been blessed in other ways, too. He married Shannon Hunt in Iowa this summer, and they had a big celebration with friends and family. Yanda said former Raven Chris Chester, a close friend who now plays for the Washington Redskins, tore it up on the dance floor.
"He was dancing his butt off," Yanda said. "It was hysterical, to say the least. Some of the guys got after it. I paid a pretty big bar bill."
Three weeks later, Yanda signed his contract with the Ravens and decided to pack his belongings into a U-Haul and drive 14 hours through the night to get back to Baltimore. It might seem like an unusual trek for a newly minted millionaire, especially when he could hire someone to do it for him, but it was typical Yanda. As he navigated the road back to Maryland, he couldn't help but feel like a lucky man.
"I definitely don't have any complaints," Yanda said. "You work your butt off in college just to get to the point where you're going to get drafted. The next big thing is to make it. Then you're trying to play well enough that you can get a really nice contract and be really well off.
"I was really scared after my knee surgery. I didn't know if I'd be able to come back and play at a high level. That really kind of showed me that this could be over tomorrow. It could be done. That's why I don't take any day for granted. Now it's all about playing confident and playing well. I want to get to the Super Bowl and do great things. I want to play dominant football."
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