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by Warpigs » Wed Aug 18, 2004 8:14 am Read this on Yahoo a few minutes ago...
Winslow unafraid to make waves
By Brian Windhorst, Beacon Journal staff writer
BEREA - Kellen Winslow has already has created a few controversies in his short time in a Browns uniform.
Not only isn't he apologizing for them, he's declaring them necessary remedy.
Winslow addressed the media Tuesday for the first time since drawing a personal foul for throwing a punch during the preseason opener and creating a stir during Monday's practice when he flattened cornerback Roosevelt Williams in a supposed noncontact drill.
Like the spats with Tennessee Titans safety Lamont Thompson and Williams, the Browns rookie tight end was pulling no punches.
"I wasn't here last year, but they only won five games. I'm not trying to talk them down, but something has to happen," Winslow said. "We need change around here, we need to make an identity for ourselves."
It seems out of the natural order that a rookie, himself on the job for less than a week, would be giving such stirring oratory. \
The cliche is that rookies are to be seen and not heard from.
But Winslow isn't following the script, in practice or, it seems, in leadership.
"My teammates like that type of stuff, I think the Browns need that," Winslow said. "Roosevelt thought (the hit) was unprofessional, but that's the way I am. Not unprofessional, but 100 miles an hour.
"I think he should do the same. I like that, we need that, we need to get fired up."
Whether all of Winslow's comments will be well-received is yet to be seen. Though he got support in the locker room for his hit on Williams, he got some negative reaction as well.
During one tense play at practice Tuesday morning, Winslow got into a heated discussion with defensive lineman Felipe Claybrooks. One thing is for sure -- he's making waves.
"You don't want to take that out of him," safety Robert Griffith said. "Guys have to kick their level up, you know he's coming hard every play. That's why he's the No. 1 pick, that's why he's Kellen Winslow's son."
Winslow even has approached defensive coordinator Dave Campo and suggested he put him on defense at rush end, a position he played in high school. Winslow might be part of the Browns' punt rush, but coach Butch Davis isn't putting him on defense.
But he understands where his rookie is coming from and is trying to guide his intensity.
"He realizes that he has to channel all that passion, energy and electricity that he brings to the game," Davis said. "When we drafted him, those are the things that we wanted."
). I hope someone just lays him out in preseason or the regular season. It'd shut him up pretty quick. I wonder if Kellen Winslow Senior has told his son to stop this.
