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Winslow says he?s limping to finish line
By STEVE DOERSCHUK REPOSITORY SPORTS WRITER

BEREA A month has passed since Kellen Winslow Jr. headed for Antonio Gates country boasting that, as tight ends go, he?s the greatest show on earth.

?I just did it for fun,? Winslow says now, ?for laughs and giggles.?

It?s December. Losing has mellowed the tone coming from Winslow?s locker stall.

?The season wears on you,? he said Thursday. ?I haven?t hit the wall or anything, but my body?s tired. My knee?s sore.?

Winslow wants to play out the last five games, get arthroscopic knee surgery, and return as a better player on a better team.

His vision for 2007?

?I?m not even healthy right now,? Winslow said. ?A lot of guys don?t know that, but ...

?Hopefully I get healthy next year, and it?ll be twice the damage.?

Coming off 30 games lost to leg injuries, Winslow has held up through 11 games to the point he leads NFL tight ends with 66 catches. No. 2 is Todd Heap with 51, followed by Gates with 50 and Tony Gonzalez with 48.

The Browns are 3-8 as Winslow prepares for a game against the Chiefs, featuring Gonzalez.

Gonzalez, 30, has faded since 2004, the second 1,200-yard receiving year in his 10-year NFL run. Still, Winslow says, ?He?s the best,? amplifying that by comparing Gonzalez to his Hall of Fame father.

?We chilled a lot when I came out as a rookie,? Winslow said of Gonzalez. ?We did a Reebok commercial together. We worked out a couple of times. He passed down some knowledge.?

Winslow?s 66-catch, 649-yard output already represents the biggest expansion-era season for a Browns tight end, by far. Steve Heiden, the No. 2 tight end, previously staked that claim, with 43 catches for 401 yards in 2005.

If his legs hold up, Winslow is a big part of the offensive plans deep into the future. But who will throw him the ball?

He seemed fairly certain it?ll be Charlie Frye.

?Charlie?s a great leader, a good quarterback. He?s gonna be a great quarterback,? Winslow said. ?It?s really his first year starting.

?We have to protect Charlie so he feels comfortable back there. When he?s back there just running for his life and we?re not protecting him ... I?m sure it looks bad on TV.?

Winslow played in the bright lights in college, for a team that won a national title. Is it an adjustment for Frye to live in the NFL spotlight after playing roughly .500 football at Akron?

?Charlie?s a winner,? Winslow said. ?There?s a saying. ?It?s not where you?re from. It?s where you?re at.? ?

Given his background and stable position on the team, does Winslow see fit to tell Frye everything will be OK?

?Charlie is the leader of this team, especially the offense,? Winslow said. ?He gets us up. He doesn?t need that. He?s fine.?

Reach Repository sports writer Steve Doerschuk at (330) 580-8347 or e-mail: steve.doerschuk@cantonrep.com

?Oz? and ?K2?

A look at Hall of Famer Ozzie Newsome?s five best full seasons as a Browns tight end compared to Kellen Winslow Jr.?s 2006 season through 11 games.

Player, year Rec. Yds. Avg. TDs

Winslow 2006 66 649 9.8 3

Winslow projected 96 944 9.8 4

Newsome 1981 69 1,002 14.5 6

Newsome 1984 89 1,001 11.2 5

Newsome 1983 89 970 10.9 6

Newsome 1979 55 781 14.2 9

Newsome 1985 62 711 11.5 5

STEVE DOERSCHUK

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Good read, and I gotta give props to the author as I rag on Doerschuk enough, I should do the opposite when warranted. It's a good article that covers the topic...no slanted agenda, no rumormill stuff... just a good article with good info. <img src="/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif" alt="" />


If K2 can improve on his blocking and if we can get him in the endzone a couple more times, I can't see him not going to Hawaii this year. The man has earned it. For all the crap he put us fans through just in getting to this point, he is paying off in spades.

I agree.....and for that reason it wouldn't bother me a bit if we shut him down this season and let him get an early start on the surgery.

Him really getting hurt would be a real waste at this point.

I agree.....and for that reason it wouldn't bother me a bit if we shut him down this season and let him get an early start on the surgery.

Him really getting hurt would be a real waste at this point.

You beat me to the gavel on that one,....

scope surgery isnt the same as say an acl repair. he will be ready to go for training camp if he gets it done soon after the season.

on another note,,, how can anybody not like this kid? i think he's the brightest spot on our offense mabey our team (i really think sean jones is our best player though). he says whats on his mind, he's right, and he lays it all out on the field every damn sunday. i wish we could have 11 of him for this offense. hopefully he gets through these last games alright, i mean, this IS his first 16 game schedule.

Good Read.

It's been obvious that Winslow is hurting. He really is a warrior though. I love his attitude, desire, and fight. I just hope he can stay healthy enough during his career to reach his potential, which is at a HOF level.


I also think he is growing up a bit and learning to say the right things. He will probably twist off several more times throughout his career, but his play will overshadow his emotions.

unfortunatly i see him being another one of those guys whos body just breaks down a few years before most because of the fact that he just brings it every play. still i love it though

For all the talk about K2 being a punk, having a mouth, etc... I say "stuff it!"

He's never said anything that wasn't true, and he's never made a boast that hasn't been backed up. We all talk about integrity and character, and then lambaste folks who actually show it. Says more about us than it does about him. When he said he was the best TE, even at 80%, all the so-called "experts" took him to task. To date, I've only heard one admit he was wrong about Kellen. Turns out, he was simply stating what was obvious to him. Guess it's now becoming obvious to the rest of us, eh?



And you're right. I'll also go with your prediction. Nevertheless, when he "goes off" again, I probably won't question the validity or veracity of what he'll say.

Some folks just can't handle the truth.

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p.s. If this kid gets healthy over the offseason, I predict we'll see some insane play from him next season. Absolutely unstoppable without a double-team on every play. Can't wait.

Thanks Stabber, good read. Kid has my vote <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> He has shown alot of folks that he's the real deal even when he's not 100%.

my thoughts exactally... I'll take his 80% ability and his 120% heart on the field every day of the week over any other TE in the league

Uh oh, he just ripped the offensive line, guess he's not a team player.

Just being devil's advocate for everyone who wants to slam Braylon for essentially saying the same thing. I don't agree with what I just said, just throwing it out there for discussion.

Big diff, though. Bray went postal on the sidelines, and Bray has done next-to-nothing this season.
KW2 may go to the Pro Bowl and was telling it liike it is. At this point, he probably should be a Pro Bowler.

Player No Yds Avg Long TD
Kellen Winslow 66 649 9.8 40 3
Braylon Edwards 43 641 14.9 75 3

So BE has scored as many points as K2, and nearly has as many yards--yet he has done nothing. <img src="/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

Braylon also has 23 fewer catches....Is this due to more drops?..or fewer balls thrown to him?

My next question is...does Winslow's greater number of catches have to do with a greater abilty to get open? .....or maybe watching his QB and seeing a need to get himself open and help when everything else is shut down? The difference in receptions could also be due to the offensive scheme....

The answer is more than likely a combination of everything listed... but when you put it all together, it makes Winslow a more complete pass receiver than Edwards...

Now if we can get Winslow to become a better blocker...we'll have a real monster on out hands... <img src="/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif" alt="" />

yes but look at how many more catches he has. you can only wonder how many more 3rd down conversion / drive saving catches he has more than edwards. braylon hasnt been playing to his full potential this year, but i mean it also hasnt been bad. next year should be at least 1000 yard year

Edwars has gotten a ton of 3rd down passes this season... Last I saw... it was the most on the team

Agreed, KW2 has nothing left to prove at this point. We should treat him as an MLB would treat a young arm. If he's starting to hurt at all, pull the plug.........he has too bright of a future to risk on a team that is playing for absolutely nothing right now.

or.... keep an eye on the kid, "monitor his pitch count" and let him play for what he has earned a shot at... a trip to Hawaii.

I think KW2 deserves a trip to Hawaii but after watching him this season, the kid is going to have NO problem going to multiple pro bowls. We shouldn't keep him in the lineup to obtain something he's a shoe-in to do multiple times in the future. JMHO.

Well, the more fundamental reason I would disagree is that, to me, shutting him down now is the same as the team mailing it in for the remainder of the season and you should *never* do that, ever. If you can play, you play. Even in a losing the season, up until the last minute of the last game the goal and always should be to win.

The *ONLY* way I even remotely agree (though I fully understand where y'all are coming from) is from a salary cap perspective as K2had his contract redone after he returned parts of his signing bonus... so there are sizable increases in there now for certain performance marks; but I'm sure he's blown most of those out of the water by now except for a season snap percentage.

I agree...but...an injury is something that can happen at any time. We all thought that Bentley would be our Pro-Bowl Center this year and for years to come. Not only hasn't Bentley played, but his career could also be in jeopardy.

I think the Browns should make the offer of going off to surgery early to Winslow. If he feels it is in his best interest to go to surgery now, so be it. The Browns can say that the team decided it was for the best and KW2 had no say in it...for KW2's PR purposes. If Kellen decides to play, he plays, but only until the game is no longer in doubt, no mop up duty.

There wouldn't be a great degree of drop off, Heiden and Dinkins make the TE position the deepest position on the team.

if the team would shut down kellen he would not be happy about it, and would cause a storm with the media. i say let him finish the season, then he gets surgery and tears it up next year.

Always let a thoroughbred run. The guy's a beast, he WANTS to play. If we worry about injuries all the time, we might as well shut down all our starters (in some cases, not a bad idea LOL).

Notice the usage of the word "we." That is calling out the team of OL which he is claiming to be on and being responsible for as well.. He is in fact being a team player by acknowledging that he is part of the problem and not just pointing fingers at other people.