I guess the assclown now is trying to backtrack...
CLEVELAND - Hall of Famer Kellen Winslow Sr. said he wished he handled better his tirade at members of the media and their coverage of his son and his injuries, Cleveland’s WKYC reported Monday.
“All I ask is that you be fair. And not bring that lack of respect you might have for those individuals, who are competing into your writing,” he told WKYC. “Be a reporter. I don’t want to hear your opinion.”
Winslow said the media is taking his son’s injury to a level that is destructive, adding he isn’t sure if the media is trying to destroy his son.
The 21-year-old Winslow tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee when he wrecked his high-powered motorcycle May 1 while doing tricks in a secluded parking lot near his home. He will miss all of next season.
Winslow Jr., who missed 14 games as a rookie with a broken right leg, will undergo surgery in the next few weeks.
Two days after a huge blow-up with the media, Winslow Sr. talked exclusively to WKYC and said he feels his son’s situation has been overplayed in the media.
Winslow Sr. said he has a deep-rooted resentment for the media, stemming from his own days as a player and his son’s days as a college player at Miami. He said the family has been abused by reporters during interviews.
He said he wishes the media would have more respect for the players and the sport itself.
Last week, Winslow Jr. made his first public appearance since his motorcycle crash, and his father used the occasion Friday night to lambaste the media for its coverage of the accident.
Shortly after arriving at an auction and roast celebrating the Browns’ 1964 NFL championship team, the former first-round pick, who didn’t limp, said he didn’t want to talk to waiting reporters.
“No,” he said politely. “I’m good.”
Kellen Winslow Sr., who drove his son to the event and escorted him into the hotel, initially said he would not comment, either. However, a few hours later, the Hall of Famer changed his mind.
The former San Diego Chargers star angrily accused the media of turning the younger Winslow’s accident and recovery into a spectacle.
“I’m disappointed in the way you guys have handled it. Twenty-one-year-old people make mistakes,” he said. “He made a mistake. You made it a circus. Remember when you were 21? A human being at 21 makes mistakes. He’s not a piece of property.”
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Winslow Sr. was asked if he expected his son to make a full recovery.
“It’s a long career,” he said. “I played nine years in the National Football League. Technically, I played six years — two strikes, two major injuries and I came out OK. We look at it as a long-term career.
“You guys look at it as a moment in time and you blow it out of proportion. This Jerry Springer mentality of journalism, you guys are better than that. You should be ashamed of yourselves. Presidents make mistakes. Senators make mistakes. Journalists, if you still call yourselves that, make mistakes.”
As his father was speaking in the hallway, Kellen Winslow Jr. was inside the ballroom listening to a speech by Hall of Fame Browns running back Jim Brown.
Because Winslow Jr. breached a “dangerous activities” clause in his contract by getting hurt while riding a motorcycle, the Browns may try to recoup some of the bonus money they have paid him.
