Kellen Winslow Statement on Suspension
October 22, 2008 by David Kindervater
Filed under Cleveland Browns
National Football League Blogcast, NFL Blogcast
Cleveland Browns tight end Kellen Winslow responded to his recent suspension with his own statement last night:
“First I would like to say that I am disappointed that my organization felt the need to suspend me for speaking out regarding my medical situation with staph. I take responsibility for the fact that there might have been a more constructive way to release this, but when I tried to do so I was discouraged from making the issue public. Regardless of how this was released the information would still remain the same. I contracted staph, again.
“I spoke out on this because I felt it was the right thing to do and that is why I was so passionate about it. This has nothing to do with football and this has nothing to do with my current contract situation. This is a health concern.
“Please understand I care deeply for my organization, my teammates, and the Browns fans. At no time was I ever trying to cause distress for the team or be a distraction but the fact remains there is a health issue that needs to be addressed further.
“I remain loyal to the Browns organization, my teammates, the fans and the city of Cleveland. I remain a hard worker on and off the field in support of my teammates and our goal to have a winning season. I hope to be a Brown for a very long time. I know that the organization and I can move forward and focus on having a successful season, which I believe everybody agrees upon.”
It’s like I said yesterday. I’ve got to agree with Kellen here. If the team was not going to come out with the truth, I guess he felt he had to. And no, the Browns did not post this statement on their Web site.
Source: NFL.com, Photo: Newscom
Well, first of all, I am a huge Browns fan and even more a Kellen Winslow fan. Phil Savage did not have the right to do what he did. He is a jerk for it. I do not believe that Kellen’s comments were offensive to the team. He was not even on the subject of football. We are talking personal health here. I hope Kellen retires a Brown, but if I were him, I would definately want traded after that. I mean, did Phil Savage even call Kellen to see if he was Ok? I don’t think he did. But anyways I just wanted to get my opinion out there and every one is entitled to one. But I want to stress the bad managing by Phil Savage. Kellen is one of the best if not the best tight end in the league. He is the best athlete on the Browns squad and we need him bad. I hope Kellen gets this straightened out, but I wouldn’t blame him for wanting a trade.
Unlike Ken, I’m not a big fan of Winslow, but I’m totally with him on this one. He calls them out for being a bush league organization that can’t keep its facilities in order (he’s not the only Brown to suffer an easily preventable staph infection), and rightfully so. Now they look bush league AND vindictive. This is the kind of episode that will kill a club when they go looking for free agents.
I’m not a Browns fan, but Winslow is right and the suspension was just wrong.