Bucs' Kellen Winslow not looking back

TAMPA - When he came here last season, we didn't know much other than the blinding talent and all the old stories, Miami stories, Cleveland stories. Kellen Winslow promised we'd get to know him.

"It'll come," he said.

A year later it still hasn't come. That's partly why Bucs fans haven't truly embraced him, that and 3-13. The highest-paid tight end in NFL history lives on the other side of the country, has his own training regimen and was hardly used in preseason, as approved by Bucs coach Raheem Morris. Winslow politely avoids media.

Does it matter?

Kellen Winslow delivered last season. He was the Bucs' best offensive player, setting franchise tight end records with 77 catches and 884 yards. He was driven. He was all the Bucs wanted when they traded with Cleveland for him.

Those same Browns come into Raymond James Stadium for the season opener Sunday. Maybe there'll be extra motivation for Winslow given his up-down years in Cleveland, highlighted by some great performances, low-lighted by a motorcycle accident that nearly ended his career and a staph infection and beyond-nasty feud with Cleveland management.

Winslow isn't biting. In a short chat with media Wednesday (key word: short), he mostly avoided the past. He knows it's the Browns, but that's about it.

"Everything that went on up there with Cleveland was a growing process with me," he said. "I really grew up and matured. It was hard up there because we weren't winning a lot and it was just frustrating at times. But I'm here now and I'm having fun."

But if there's any extra jam this week for No. 82, Bucs coach Raheem Morris will take it.

"… I'm sure he does have some fuel," Morris said. "I'm sure he has something hidden away, he has some articles stowed away, something that was said negative about this young man. But that's what gets him going. That's who Kellen is. He's a soldier."

Did he just say "He's a soldier?"

Morris can get away with that, twitting and poking at K2. Their relationship is that good, enough for Morris to have a separate set of Winslow rules, allowing for Winslow's keen sense of his own body, what with six knee surgeries, and because of the intensity he brought to every Sunday last season. Morris likens Winslow to another Buc, veteran cornerback Ronde Barber. Only …

"Ronde smiles more," Morris said with a grin.

Morris said, "He had limited preseason action last year, and all he did was go out and become our all-time leading tight end in receptions, set an all-time record … I can go and tell you guys I'm going to treat everybody the same … that wouldn't be realistic. When we brought (Kellen) in here, we knew what we were getting into and we accepted it and it worked out pretty good for us."

This Browns game might have meant more for Winslow if it was in Cleveland, where he bonded with many Browns fans who appreciated his work ethic after the motorcycle accident.

He wanted a new deal from the Browns, but he also gave everything he had even as his body broke down, even as he blew the whistle on Cleveland management in 2008 for trying to cover up a staph infection that ravaged the team. Some Browns had their careers ended by the infection, including a name you'll remember: Joe Jurevicius.

Kellen Winslow had it right.

"You just move on, and I'm here now," he said.

No. 82 practiced Wednesday. But it's really about Sundays. The man delivered last season.

That we know.

Click here to order Kellen Winslow’s proCane Rookie Card.



(tbo.com)