Friday, May 06, 2005

 

The "Chosen One"

I always respected the Cleveland Browns. Granted, that was mostly the real Cleveland Browns, the Cleveland Browns that Art Modell moved to Baltimore and now calls the Ravens. Anyway, they were generally a pretty good team. Even when they weren't, their fans were really into the whole football thing. Cleveland fans understood the game and where rabid about their team. Enthusiasm goes a long way with me, and Browns fans were always enthusiastic.

The Denver Broncos beat them in 3 out of 4 AFC Championship games in the late 80's and early 90's to go to the Super Bowl (and get beaten 3 times). As a Broncos fan, I was happy to see the Broncos win, as a football fan, I always felt for the fans in Cleveland. Those were good teams, beaten in back to back years by John Elway's "The Drive" and Earnest Byner's "The Fumble." Two games, one decided by an improbable series of plays, the other decided by one play. Cleveland deserved better.

Kellen Winslow was also a well known foe of the Denver Broncos. Having played college ball at Missouri, he was drafted by the San Diego Chargers at the height of Don Coryell's "Air Coryell" offense. Led by QB Dan Fouts, those teams were dangerous, a threat to score on any down in any situation. At wideout they had Charlie Joyner and John Jefferson who was later replaced by Wes Chandler from the Saints. Two great receivers. When the Chargers drafted Winslow, they instantly got the best Tight End in football. Winslow was an animal, big and fast with excellent hands. OK, not the best blocker, but the Chargers didn't run the ball much anyway.

But most of all he played with heart. Anyone who saw his performance in the double overtime playoff game aginst the Dolphins would never question Winslow's heart. Winslow caught passes in the Miami heat, ran deep patterns, had to be helped of the field on two occassions, not from injury, but from pure exhaustion. Yet he returned to catch passes in overtime and even blocked a field goal to keep the game alive for the Chargers. The greatest TE in NFL history on specila teams? Yup, that was Winslow throwing his body around, doing whatever it took to keep his team alive.

Kellen Winslow has a son who plays football for the Cleveland Browns. Maybe. I guess. Someday. You would think that with the respect I have for the Cleveland Browns franchise and the respect I have for Kellen Winslow that I would have something nice to say about Kellen Winslow Jr.. Nope. Not a thing. While in college at Miami (Miami players in the NFL, that's a whole other issue to be discussed later) he cursed out a reporter in the locker room after a gameand told the reporter that he was in a war. A war!?! Pat Tillman quit a high paying NFL career to actually fight in a war. A real war, Kellen, where people die, people like Pat Tillman. You were never in a war, you never will be in a war. You don't have to, you make a ton of money. Well, Pat Tillman did to. I guess he's a man and you're not. Strike one.

Kellen Winslow Jr. held out for more money when selected in the NFL draft last year. Hey, I've got no trouble with someone wanting more money, that's the American way. Problem is, he wanted more money than was being offered to the number one pick. You see, he's the "Chosen One." No really, I heard someone say he was the "Chosen One." Who said that again? Right, it was Kellen Winslow Jr.. Could Kellen Winslow Jr. turn out to be the best player in last year's draft, the best player in the NFL? You bet he could! I'll defend him if that turns out to be the case, if he actually proves himself to be that kind of good in the NFL. Until then.... Strike two.

The problem is that Kellen Winslow Jr. didn't really get the chance to prove himself last season, getting injured in the third game of the season. Five catches doesn't prove much, son. Now it's starting to look like Kellen Winslow Jr. won't play any games this season. Five catches in two seasons for the "Chosen One." Hardly the best player in the NFL, not even close to being the most productive in his draft class.

Why's he going to miss the season? Motorcycle accident. Hey, motorcycles are dangerous. As someone who doesn't ride, but lives in an area where we have a couple hundred thousand bikers come through in the summer, I see how dangerous it is. I'm not a militant anti-biker, I like those who ride, we all need to do a better job seeing bikers on the road. A motorcycle accident is a horrible thing. That is unless you were doing something stupid at the time. I was flipping through the channels last night and saw security camera footage from the Cleveland Browns practice facility. An idiot was zipping around a parking lot, turning sharp, braking hard, accelerating quickly. Reportedly it was Kellen Winslow Jr. right before his crash. The only credit I will give this man is that he wasn't riding like that on the street. At least we don't have any video of that yet. The "Chosen One" hit a curb and damaged his knee. Preliminarily, it looks like a torn ACL. That would be another season lost for the "Chosen One." Strike three.

Big NFL contracts, like the one Kellen Winslow Jr. signed, usually contain provisions that the player not engage in dangerous activities, like sky-diving or riding motorcycles. Getting caught engaging in those activities can result in a player losing his signing bonus. We have video of someone not just riding a motorcycle (which is not inherently dangerous) but riding it recklessly. If that's not grounds for losing his bonus, I don't know what is. Oh, he got paid for those two games last season, and he'll most likely get paid for no games this season, but an NFL contract is not guarenteed, the Browns can cut the "Chosen One" at any time and not pay the rest of his contract.

Career in peril? Could be. Exactly what was he chosen to be, a bad example?

BOJ

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