Winslow helping to teach Bucs rookie QB Freeman

Long before Josh Freeman earned the starting quarterback job in Tampa Bay, tight end Kellen Winslow was preparing the rookie for the big day.

Aside from the quarterbacks, no Buccaneers player spends more time studying an opponent on film than Winslow, and that caught the attention of his coach, Raheem Morris.

Morris watched as Winslow stayed late in the film room and just talked football with Freeman, weeks before the rookie took over. They would go over the young quarterback's progressions, Winslow teaching him how to use the film to help him on game day, Morris said. And when Freeman finally got his shot last week, he showed what he had learned, throwing for 205 yards and three touchdowns — one of them to Winslow — in the 38-28 upset of Green Bay.

"I have watched him bond to Josh, grab Josh by the neck and bring him into the room with him and those two sit for hours at a time and go through the process … whether Josh is playing or not," Morris said. "It has been fun to be able to watch those two work together."

It wasn't long ago that Winslow was learning the hard way how to be a pro. Now in his sixth NFL season, he is acting like a player who wants to be the cornerstone for a rebuilding franchise with a promising young quarterback.

All the talent he displayed at the University of Miami was bursting to get out when Winslow came into the league in 2004, but he couldn't get out of his own way. After breaking his leg during his rookie season, Winslow made more headlines in 2005 when he broke his contract by riding a motorcycle — and crashing, tearing an anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee and missing that season as well.

In games, he was a Pro Bowl-caliber talent, and made the All-Star game in 2007 when he caught 82 passes for 1,106 yards. But he was better known for his trash-talk to other players, and, even later, against the team that drafted him, the Cleveland Browns, accusing them of sloppy medical practices that caused him two staff infections in his time there.

Despite Winslow's talent, the Browns traded him this off-season to Tampa Bay for two draft picks. It was a chance for Winslow, who made a name for himself in this state as a star at the University of Miami, to make a new name for himself.

He realized how important Freeman, the team's first-round draft pick this year (17th overall), would be to Tampa Bay's future. And he immediately started to impart all the football knowledge he could, breaking down opponents, teaching the rookie to look for weaknesses — and for Winslow..

"Kellen's been great," Freeman said. "We talk a lot of football together."

Winslow never had one consistent quarterback in Cleveland — Jeff Garcia, Trent Dilfer, Derek Anderson, Brady Quinn were just a few. He saw how important it was to have a rapport with Freeman. And he sees great potential for the rookie.

"If I see something, I'll talk to him about it," Winslow said. "I feel I have a guy now who I can work with over a long period time. And this is just the start of it."

Morris said Winslow is always asking to be trusted with the football, and has been "nothing but a positive influence for these young men."

This year, Winslow already has a career-high five touchdowns and is averaging more than 10 yards a catch, although his yardage is down on a 1-7 Bucs team. The Dolphins, who have faced some of the league's best tight ends this year, may be facing the best pure receiver of them all, Dolphins coach Tony Sparano said, and "one of the fastest guys on their team."

"The guy plays the position like a wide receiver, but he is a tenacious blocker," Sparano said. "The guy will get after you. He's not afraid to fight you. . . . He's a challenge, no question about it."

As Winslow returns to the place where he "learned to play football," he hopes to show he is part of building another success story in the state of Florida.

"He has come in here and done nothing but help this young quarterback," Morris said. "That has been a lot of fun, to watch with those two grooming together."



(palmbeachpost.com)