Its War! Im a F*****n soldier!

As all of you know by know, the Cleveland Browns Tight End Kellen Winslow Jr. has been suspended for this weeks game. The reason for this is because of "conduct detrimental to the team". This came about on Sunday when K2 told WEWS Browns reporter Mary Kay Cabot that he was hospitalized with a staph infection, and that the Browns kept it quiet to protect themselves. He said he had been treated like a "piece of meat" and that this is "bigger than football" He went as far to say that he contemplated asking for a trade before Tuesdays deadline. In the past few years, 5 different players have had staph infections (Braylon Edwards, LeCharles Bentley, Ben Taylor, Brian Russell, Joe Jurevicius), so I can understand where K2 is coming from, but I feel that there is more than meets the eye here. K2 wants a new contract, and he still has 3 years left on his current contract. He hired a new agent in Drew Rosenhaus, and he wants to get paid. Here are the two points of view I see.

K2 has a right to speak up
If it is indeed true that the Browns did try cover up his injury, he definitely has a right to complain. I have the feeling that K2 should not have played this past week, and he stood up and played. I know that Edwards and Jurevicius lost much time because of a staph infection. Bentley's career is in serious jeopardy because a staph infection occurred in his injured knee, and Brian Russell missed the rest of the season when he had a staph infection in his elbow. Also, K2 is infamous for playing hurt. I know last year that he had bad shoulders, and a banged up knee, and he played in all 16 games last year and the year before. The last two seasons he has had (171 receptions, 1,981 yards and 8 touchdowns, abd 1 Pro Bowl too!) Last year he was 3rd in receiving yards , and 3rd in receptions among tight ends. K2 is one of the three best tight ends in the league (Antonio Gates and Jason Witten are the other two), and he is way to important to this team. Everyweek he goes out and fights hard. He brings a competitive swagger to the team and he makes amazing plays (Knocking Joey Porter to the ground, the Catch in Arizona last year, and the basketball catch versus Pittsburgh this year). So the reasons why K2 can talk is because the Browns have had a history of staph infections, he is too good of a player, and as long as he is on the field, he produces and fights.

K2 should keep his mouth quiet
Now the reasons why K2 should keep his mouth quiet is because the Browns have paid him very handsomely. In his first two seasons as a Brown he made $11.6 million. You know how many games he played in those two seasons? Two. Yes he played two games in those two seasons. He was hurt on an onside kick versus the Cowboys, and the year after he hurt himself in a motorcycle accident. Also, the Browns could have taken away $4.4 million from his motorcycle accident, but the Browns did not do that. The Browns have been fair to K2 in terms of his contract. Here is an example: This past summer the Golden State Warriors PG Monta Ellis signed a 6 year $66 million dollar extension. They decided to keep him over Baron Davis (who is a great player), and they made Monta their cornerstone player. This summer Ellis was injured in a mo-ped accident (athletes should get off these motorcycles!), and he is out for 2-4 months. The Warriors decided to suspend Ellis for 30 games (he is going to miss these games regardless because of the injury) without pay. Now look at what the Browns did, they could have taken away a lot of money from K2 but they were very fair with him and let him earn it. Technically, K2 did violate the rules of his contract by riding on a motorcycle, and the Browns still rewarded him. Also, when K2 came into the league as a rookie as the highest paid tight end. He hadn't played a down and he was already the highest paid tight end. Another reason why K2 should stay quiet is because both Josh Cribbs and Braylon Edwards had Pro Bowl seasons, and they did not blow up about asking for new contracts. Devin Hester got a brand new contract, and Cribbs has asked the Browns to re-work it, but he has not criticized the team or asked for a trade. The same goes along with Edwards. If the case is that K2 wanted his injury to be kept quiet, then I feel that K2 should keep quiet because he is hurting team morale. These types of situations should be kept in house and not for the media to jump on. The Browns are already struggling this season with a 2-4 record, and they really do not need this right now.

In conclusion, I am not really sure how I feel about this. I don't like how the Browns suspended K2 for this weeks game, especially since it is a must win. If K2 is really exposing a cover up by the Browns, then he definitely has a right to speak up. At the same time I like how the Browns took the team first approach and suspended one of their best players for causing this ruckus. The Browns have been very fair with K2, and K2 has fought very hard for the Browns as well. Now is not the time though to be causing harm in the locker room, if you want a new contract, play out this year and then in the offseason go for it. If I were the Browns, I would reward K2 at the end of the year if he continues his great play. He has fought greatly through these injuries (Stallworth missed 4 weeks because of a quad injury, but K2 plays on a bum knee and shoulders) and he has proven that he is one of the best tight ends in the league. Linebackers cannot cover him, and he is always a threat on the field. So if he continues his great play again this year, pay the man, he is that good. Just know that there are always three parts to a story, his side, the other guys side, and the truth. We are all trying to figure out the truth, and that is the hard part.

-Raz