About 10 or 11 years ago, I was watching Kellen Winslow Jr. have the best years of his career with the Cleveland Browns in person in Cleveland. Distinctly, I remember several games I was at live during the 2007 or 2008 season that Winslow went off.
Now, he’s a criminal. And he say in front of a judge yesterday to defend some terrible charges from women that he’s been accused of since he retired – last appearing with the New York Jets – in 2013.
Furthermore, it’s really crazy to sit back and think of some of the twists and turns that pro athletes’ lives take.
Former NFL player Kellen Winslow II pleaded guilty to sexual assault charges in a deal that could result in up to 18 years in prison https://t.co/gmUXdJ8oC8
— CNN (@CNN) November 5, 2019
To avoid a life sentence, Winslow accepted a guilty plea by saying the following:
“I guess I have to, your honor,” Winslow told San Diego Superior Court Judge Blaine K. Bowman about waiving his right to a jury trial. “I pray to God that you give me 12 and I can go home to my family as soon as possible.”
At other points, Winslow told the judge he was ‘having trouble thinking’; a possible reference or effect of CTE.
Finally, here’s what the prosecutor Dan Williams said on behalf of five women:
“Each of these victims, they didn’t try to come out here in order to try to frame Mr. Winslow,” Owens said “The fact that they had that courage to come forward and speak with law enforcement and to testify to all the things that he had done while facing all these cameras, I think it was important to me to make sure that that truth was heard, and it was important to me to make sure that he was held accountable for each one of those crimes.”
Obviously, this is one of those uglier news stories surrounding sports. It was a tough one to write. And it’s tough to believe how far Kellen Winslow Jr. has fallen since I was watching him snag footballs for Derek Anderson and Brady Quinn just over a decade ago.
