Winslow is getting a lot of attention for talking yesterday. While a part of me is a little cautious with Kellen because he can still rub me the wrong way, I don't really see what the story is here. Winslow didn't say anything particularly suprising in his assessment of his own playing time, and he didn't strike me as very cocky in saying he needed to be on the field. Heck, I used to feel the same way back in my eighth-grade flag football days. So I'm in Winslow's corner on this one, except...
I'm not comfortable with the implicit challenge to the coaches. Winslow intimated that things are going to change. That's either information that ought to be mentioend by Crennel, or it's Winslow's way of putting pressure on Carthon and Crennel. Depending on what else is going on out of earshot of the press, Winslow could be walking a dangerous line. That's something we just aren't in a position to know right now.
All that said, after a pathetic effort against the Bengals, it was refreshing (yeah, that's the word) to see a Browns player as upset as fans. Since 1999 I've routinely been bothered by players not seeming to care, which is franly an insult to the many thousands of fans who drop money on the team. We might not be able to tell if Winslow is pushing things too far or not. But we can certainly tell that he cares about the performance on the field. And as long as this is his motivation, I'm with him.
UPDATE: Even PFT has changed it's initially overwhelmingly negative comments on this incident. Got to
PFT.com to read it.... but here's the whole post because PFT offers no way to link directly to a particular post.
REVOLT COMING IN CLEVELAND? We'll admit that this story isn't the result of any scientific research on our behalf (as if anything we ever do is "scientific"). However, we firmly believe based upon the flood of e-mails we've received over the past few days that folks in Cleveland are inching dangerously close to storming Browns headquarters and seizing control of the team.
We've ripped players in the past for airing out a team's dirty brown towels to the media, but we have never, ever received anything like the mountain of messages unequivocally supporting -- and thanking -- tight end Kellen Winslow for saying what the fans firmly believe needs to be said.
Though, on the surface, Winslow was stupid to sound off on the struggles of the team's offense and his role in it, the hidden genius of his tactic is that he is now the most beloved Brown since Bernie Kosar.
And we strongly suggest that the organization pay close attention to this one. A mutiny is coming unless changes are made. The primary target of the fans' venom is offensive coordinator Maurice Carthon, but it remains to be seen whether he gets the shoe. After all, it was head coach Romeo Crennel who saw fit to hire Carthon, and Crennel is smart enough to know that dumping Mo is an implicit indictment of the decision to give him the job.
But if the offensive output doesn't improve, and if Carthon doesn't get crap-canned, the wrath will be re-directed at Crennel.
Ultimately, however, we think the fans need to scrutinize ownership. Chronically bad organizations (e.g., the Lions, the Cardinals, the Saints, and until lately the Bengals) have bad owners. The Browns generally have been terrible since returning to the league in 1999. Though the problems can be laid at the feet of a string of bungling execs from Dwight Clark to Carmen Policy to Butch Davis to John Collins, someone had to decide that it was a good idea to hire them, and the buck goes no higher than the owner.
And, frankly, Randy Lerner is a big step backward, by all appearances, from his father, Al.
After Roger Goodell was elected to become the new Commissioner, Policy praised Goodell for unflinchingly telling Al Lerner in 1998 that in order to land the reconstituted Browns franchise he had to be willing to pay more than anyone else. Maybe if the league had focused less on further lining the owners' pockets and more on ensuring that the ownership group was in the best position of the various candidates to put a successful product on the field, the fans in Cleveland wouldn't be ready to revolt.
So we can't believe we're saying this, but keep it up, K2. Like Maximus in Gladiator, you've won over the mob -- and that might be enough to eventually take down Commodus.