Monday, May 02, 2005

Sympathy for the stupid

Word came out today that Kellen Winslow, the talented tight end for the Cleveland Browns, was injured this morning in a motorcyele accident. Seems young Kellen was riding new new Suzuki machine - so new that he didn't have a valid permit to ride a motorcycle - when he hit a curb and went flying off at 35 mph, landing so hard that he took out a small tree. Lucky for him that he was wearing a helmet (though it wasn't strapped on) and apparently only has minor injuries. But can I just say, for all of the common-sense people in the universe, what the heck was he thinking? This is a guy who lost most of his rookie season last year with a broken leg suffered in a game against Dallas, an injury that required two surgeries. This is an activity that may have ruined the career of former Chicago Bulls guard Jay Williams in 2003 (he fractured his pelvis among other injuries). And I would venture that it was in Winslow's $40 million contract that he wasn't supposed to engage in anything that threatened serious injury - Williams had such a clause in his deal.

If I were the Browns - a team in a league where there are no guaranteed contracts - I would cut Winslow off right now. If he's stupid enough to risk his multimillion-dollar livelihood for a joy ride, then he doesn't deserve to wear anybody's NFL uniform.

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