Just to make sure he didn't think it was cool missing another entire season in a career that has been flying in reverse after it had barely begun, Cleveland Browns tight end Kellen Winslow Jr. was charged Friday with operating his motorcycle in willful or wanton disregard of safety by Westlake Prosecutor John Wheeler. The offense is a minor misdemeanor under the Ohio Revised Code (4511.201) and carries a maximum $150 fine with no jail time.
The benighted Kellen Winslow Jr., who missed 14 games of his rookie year last season with a broken leg, will likely miss all of this season as well after wiping out on his motorcycle at 35mph in a suburban Cleveland parking lot May 1.
Winslow will need reconstructive surgery to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee as a result of his endo over the handlebars and could take as much as a year to recuperate.
The Browns may elect to recoup between $5.7 million and $10.7 million from Winslow for being in breach of his contract, which expressly prohibited him from participating in "hazardous activities" such as "motorcycling." The team gave up their second-round draft pick in a trade with Detroit to select Winslow with the sixth overall pick of the 2004 draft, and he agreed to a six-year contract for a maximum of $40 million.
AND, he will get a ticket.
Article comments
1 - Matthew T. Sussman
Tim Couch must be thinking, "Sheesh, at least I didn't do that!"
And when you get a guy like that to feel good about himself, you know you're a reject.
2 - FilteringCraig
It sure is hard to feel any sympathy for Kellen Winslow as we sit and wait to see if this kid can be worth anywhere near the amount of trouble he causes.
Just another day in the life of the Cleveland sports fan though.
This is another reason why the whole "Curse of the Bambino" whining in Boston rings completely hollow with me. You find just as much bad luck in Cleveland without that sense of entitlement.
3 - BillB
You'd think these guys who essentially have the world by the nuts, due in large part to their physical abilities, wouldn't engage in such obvious potentially physically hazardous activities. How about a raucous game of Gin Rummy instead?
I suppose that's a rush of a different feather.
While I wouldn't go into a cocoon, I wouldn't be tempting fate on a motorcycle either.
4 - Eric Olsen
in a nutshell: dumbass
5 - Matthew T. Sussman
Few in the sports world speak about the "Lake Effect Curse" plaguing the greater Cleveland area:
-- No major Cleveland sports team (Browns, Cavaliers, Indians) has won a championship since 1964 (Browns). The Indians last won in 1948, and the Cavs have never won it.
-- 1997 World Series: Indians winning in the bottom of the ninth of Game 7, only to let the Marlins tie it up and go on to win in extra innings
-- John Elway's 98-yard drive was against the Browns.
-- Since the Browns returned to Cleveland, only two first-round draft picks (center Jeff Faine, Winslow) are still with the team.
-- This past year, the Cavaliers were as high as 31-21 in February and ended up missing the playoffs by one game.
I could go on, but we'll save that for another post.
6 - Eric Berlin
It just seems like pure madness to me for a pro athlete to partake in such high-risk activities.
So much for being a superstar in the making....