Cleveland Browns Rescind Kellen Winslow Suspension After Text Messages Surface
Yesterday, our very own Midnight Writer reported, based on a report from the Cleveland Plain-Dealer, that the official suspension letter from the Cleveland Browns to Kellen Winslow included accusations of verbal abuse to Browns employees by Winslow, as well as attempts by teammates to stop Winslow from talking after the Redskins game. (ProFootballTalk.com alerted us to a Chris Mortensen report from ESPN that Kellen Winslow contracted staph when he cut himself on his car door.)
This morning, Mary-Kay Cabot of the Plain-Dealer is reporting that the Cleveland Browns have decided to rescind Kellen Winslow’s one-game suspension after it came to light that a Browns PR employee had text messaged Winslow and told him to keep quiet about his staph infection. Browns management apparently had not been previously made aware of these text messages. According to the Plain-Dealer:
The text messages urged Winslow not to reveal his staph infection and said General Manager Phil Savage would get involved if he did. Winslow was also told in the texts that revealing staph would touch off a firestorm.
On Saturday, Browns owner Randy Lerner called Kellen Winslow to apologize to the tight end for how the situation had unfolded. Despite the lifting of the suspension, Kellen Winslow will still be required to pay a $25,000 fine for his comments regarding the Cleveland Browns not protection players from staph infections; however, he will not lose his game check for today’s game, nor will he be required to officially apologize to the team.
As to the most important component of all of this for the Browns and the team’s fans, Kellen Winslow still will not play today in the Cleveland Browns game against the Jaguars. He was not allowed to participate in team functions this week and had traveled back home to San Diego on Thursday. The following is a statement from Kellen Winslow in the wake of the Browns lifting his suspension:
