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Browns TE Winslow appeals suspension
COMMENT: Should the Browns have suspended Winslow?
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
BEREA — Pro Bowl tight end Kellen Winslow appealed his one-game suspension for critical comments he made about the Cleveland Browns' handling of his hospitalization with a staph infection, the latest development in a bizarre back-and-forth squabble.
Winslow was suspended without pay by general manager Phil Savage on Tuesday for comments and behavior disparaging to the organization. Winslow was critical of Savage and said he only came forward to reveal he had staph — for the second time — out of concern for his teammates' health.
Denise White, a publicist with EAG Sports Management, said Winslow appealed the suspension and filed the appropriate paperwork with the NFL Players Association.
Union attorney Adam Kaiser will represent Winslow in an expedited grievance proceeding before an arbitrator in Cleveland on Friday or Saturday. If Winslow loses, he will sit out Sunday's game in Jacksonville and forfeit $235,294, his one-game paycheck. If Winslow wins, he could keep his money and Kaiser said it's possible the 25-year-old could be reinstated in time to play against the Jaguars.
Whatever the outcome, Browns coach Romeo Crennel feels Winslow's rift with the team can be fixed.
"I think it is repairable," he said. "Kellen is not a bad kid. I have a pretty decent relationship with Kellen. With me personally, I feel that relations are repairable and we will go forward."
The unusual case pitting star player and struggling franchise began on Oct. 9 when Winslow was admitted to the Cleveland Clinic with an undisclosed illness.
According to Crennel and Savage, the team and Winslow made a joint decision to keep the player's medical condition confidential. However, when he returned to practice last week after missing Cleveland's 35-14 upset over the New York Giants, Winslow said it was the Browns who didn't want to disclose his illness. He said he agreed with their stance.
But Winslow broke the apparent pact following Sunday's loss in Washington, revealing he had staph and saying the team, which has had at least six known cases of staph since 2005, asked him to conceal it. He also lashed out at Savage for not calling him during his three-day stay in the hospital and said he felt he was being treated "like a piece of meat" by the team.
Savage responded by suspending Winslow and called the fiery player's comments and behavior "unwarranted, inappropriate, and unnecessarily disparaging to our organization."
Winslow countered with his own statement, saying he spoke out because of a health concern and not because he's seeking a new contract from the Browns.
Despite the disturbingly high number of staph cases, Crennel said he abided by the team's understanding with Winslow and did not inform Cleveland's other players that the tight end had staph again.
"He was in the hospital and it was a personal issue," Crennel said in explaining the team's decision to keep Winslow's illness from his teammates.
This was Winslow's second bout with staph. He first contracted an infection following surgery on his right knee, which he severely injured in a near-fatal motorcycle crash three years ago. Winslow has had at least three other surgeries on the knee, which was most recently scoped during the past offseason.
While his suspension is in effect, Winslow is not allowed to attend practices, team meetings or be at the Browns' training facility.
Surprisingly, there was little reaction inside Cleveland's locker room to Winslow's suspension and not one player interviewed seemed alarmed by a new case of staph.
A few players, including center Hank Fraley and linebacker Andra Davis — two team captains — as well as tight end Steve Heiden were reluctant to address Winslow's situation.
"I don't even want to talk about it," said Heiden, who will likely start in place of Winslow. "We're trying to beat the Jaguars, that's all I'm worried about. I can't wait to have Kellen back, and when he gets back we'll go to work with Kellen."
Quarterback Derek Anderson admitted he was somewhat surprised by the team's decision to suspend Winslow, who has a team-high 21 receptions and has been one of the Browns' best players the past three seasons.
"A little bit," Anderson said. "Obviously, they made a decision and went with it. I just play here."
As for the team's problems with staph, kicker Phil Dawson said the Browns have been proactive in educating their players about how to protect themselves from becoming infected. During training camp, infectious control experts from the clinic visited the team and explained the risks of staph and how to combat the virus, which has become more common in the NFL.
"This thing is everywhere," Dawson said. "All the information was given to us, literature we could take home. With all that said, you still feel for a fellow player who gets it. Your heart goes out to them and it's a scary thing, but I don't think it's isolated to the Cleveland Browns."
Comments
By Cal
October 24, 2008 4:54 PM | Link to this
If they all agreed to keep it quiet, then what does that say about Kellen’s credibility.I say get rid of this guy in the off season, throw in a Harley, and get a draft pick. A great player is made up of talent and shows good team character. Do you actually beleive Kellen want’s to be Brown for a long time? He not only contacted staph but he is also cancerous.
By Cal
October 24, 2008 4:54 PM | Link to this
If they all agreed to keep it quiet, then what does that say about Kellen’s credibility.I say get rid of this guy in the off season, throw in a Harley, and get a draft pick. A great player is made up of talent and shows good team character. Do you actually beleive Kellen want’s to be Brown for a long time? He not only contacted staph but he is also cancerous.
By Cal
October 24, 2008 4:53 PM | Link to this
If they all agreed to keep it quiet, then what does that say about Kellen’s credibility.I say get rid of this guy in the off season, throw in a Harley, and get a draft pick. A great player is made up of talent and shows good team character. Do you actually beleive Kellen want’s to be Brown for a long time? He not only contacted staph but he is also cancerous.
By TeddyDawg
October 24, 2008 3:28 PM | Link to this
Jamie Dukes on NFL Network summed it up beautiful yesterday if you caught him. He said that KW2 had no choice but to bring the truth to light because of all of the rumours making the rounds on the internet regarding he had an STD infection…The man has a family and a reputation to uphold. Savage was wrong in what he done. This was not a blow up involving the team that required a suspension due to insubordination. It was a personal issue that he had every right to tell the truth about. I am very disappointed in this move by Browns management.
By old fan
October 24, 2008 2:40 PM | Link to this
If the Browns have to resort to this kind of intimidation they are not the solid organization they try to portray.
By brownman
October 24, 2008 1:48 PM | Link to this
maybe if they did trade K2, the staph infections in the Cleveland Clinic will go away. That would be something huh?
By Wolfman
October 24, 2008 1:09 PM | Link to this
Whatever happened to Constitutional rights? K2 should not be denied freedom of speech because he works for an organization that apparently has a lack of concern for the health conditions of its facilities and is obviously trying to cover it up. So instead of suspending players, get over it, let the best players do their jobs (hint: start with changing QBs and find a head coach who knows football) and stop disappointing life long fans. Savage and company couldn’t buy their way to the Super Bowl.
By CAUDILL
October 24, 2008 12:56 PM | Link to this
The Browns don’t need an “OCHO-CINCO”! And thats what this will turn into! TRADE HIM FAST! And do some cleaning up in the locker room!
By CAUDILL
October 24, 2008 12:55 PM | Link to this
The Browns don’t need an “OCHO-CINCO”! And thats what this will turn into! TRADE HIM FAST! And do some cleaning up in the locker room!
By Joe
October 23, 2008 9:39 PM | Link to this
Earth to K2. This is the NFL and, yes, you are a “piece of meat”. A very expensive piece of meat that is paid to catch the ball.
By G. Brunner
October 23, 2008 7:03 PM | Link to this
Two Thumbs up for Winslow. This is a serious health issue, and the Browns need to do something besides censor a player. Suppose your football playing child picked up a staph infection in the locker room, then suspended him because you talked to the newspaper? think about it.
By BIG DAN
October 23, 2008 6:58 PM | Link to this
Winslow does not need to be suspended he needs to be playing on this 2-4 team that looks like its not going to finish at 8-8 this yr. With him we have more of a chance to win than with out him. He spoke out in love for his team mates & their well being. 6 staphs is way too much clean up the mess out there in Berea or the hospital ect. Phil Savage unsuspend Winslow now , the season ticket holders and fans deserve the best players to be out there, his suspension is excessive,it makes u look bad 2
By bo
October 23, 2008 5:20 PM | Link to this
Unbelievable. You never hear about this kind of crap happening on any other team. Kellen wasn’t being a baby, he was just concerned with his health. The fact that the Browns tried to sweep this under the rug is upsetting. I’d be pissed off too if 6+ of my co-workers all contracted staph at my place of employment. You don’t mess around with staph. That 7’ 1000” kid from UNC Ashville just lost a good portion of his foot due to Staph.
By Yardbird
October 23, 2008 3:41 PM | Link to this
Not a fan of Winslow Jr. Browns took him ahead of Roethlisberger in the Draft. The Steelers, the next pick got Ben. Thats not Winslow’s fault but playing around on Motorcycles and getting hurt, bragging about being the best tight end in the league before playing a down, and being in the news alot tells me he is a potential cancer to the team. Did the Browns need him against the Giants?
The
By Scott
October 23, 2008 2:33 PM | Link to this
On the one hand, Kellen went against everything he says he believes in as it regards being a team player and NOT being a distraction. On the other hand, friggin’ staph has taken more time from more players on this team and we may NEVER see Joe Jurevicious because of it. And so if he feels by speaking out, he can get the NFL to put heat on the Browns to improve the situation, then I can see that viewpoint. Maybe they should just evacuate Berea for a week and boil the whole dang city…
By T800
October 23, 2008 1:06 PM | Link to this
Staph infections are very very serious and sometimes can cause severe illness. As someone mentioned in another comment, one case of staph infection on a team is too much. Whats funny is Kellen is considered a jerk for not giving the reason of his absence to media and he is considered a jerk for finally releasing the reason. I think some of you need to think about what is fair. The owner of this team needs to be held publicly accountable just like the players are.
By preacher,franklin,ohio
October 23, 2008 11:59 AM | Link to this
pray it gets done in chirstain way geter done for jesus not browns,god bless you all love in chirst preacher,
By preacher,franklin,ohio
October 23, 2008 11:58 AM | Link to this
pray it gets done in chirstain way geter done for jesus not browns,god bless you all love in chirst preacher,
By UD=WHO D?
October 23, 2008 11:36 AM | Link to this
Ed get with it. He certainly isn’t being a baby. He contracted an infection that came as a direct result of the conditions in his locker room. It has been well documented that Cleveland has had such problems in the past. The fact that one player conracted it is too many, and the fact that this is now the 6th time staph has been contracted there raises a big concern that the proper team oficials are not taking care of business. Players get paid to play, not get infections at work
By Ace
October 23, 2008 10:27 AM | Link to this
I’m not a Browns fan, and would enjoy seeing one of their best players sit out a game. This is total b.s. though. If I were his teammate I would stand up for him. He spoke out about an issue that could change the outcome of his team’s season. It only takes two or three of your teams best players getting a staff infection, and you can count out any chance of going to the playoffs. I doubt you will ever hear another Browns player getting a staff infection, and they can thank Winslow for that.
By Johnny Reed
October 23, 2008 10:22 AM | Link to this
They should not have suspended him. This is typical corporate behavior by Savage. He trys to manipulate the situation by making Winslow look like he was the one who didn’t want to come out to the media with his illness. When in fact Savage was trying to cover the whole thing up cause he knew that 6 cases of staph in his locker room would lead to speculation that he didn’t have the players health in his best interest, which would obviously lead to unproductivity from his “ill” players.
By edw12877
October 23, 2008 10:16 AM | Link to this
He needs to shut-up and stop being a baby! He’s one of the best players on a team that gave him a chance when he didn’t deserve it. Suck it up Kellen.