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October 21, 2008 In a word ... Ew!Posted: 08:15 AM ET
Sports Anchor Rafer Weigel Browns tight end Kellen Winslow, Jr. has been known for having a big mouth (who can forget the time he foolishly compared being a football player to being a soldier in combat? ) But now his mouth is making his team look stupid and not him.
Seems like there are enough health risks involved in being a football player - without having to be afraid of contracting a staph infection. Winslow missed a game last week with what the team called an “undisclosed illness.” That’s all they said. After the Browns lost to Washington Sunday, Winslow let it be known to reporters he’d been hospitalized with a staph infection. Staph infections are bad. They can kill you. What’s even worse? This is the sixth “known” case of a staph infection for a Browns player since 2005. Winslow got one twice. Former Browns center LeCharles Bentley is out of football after battling an infection he said was life-threatening. Receiver Joe Jurevicius still can’t play after contracting a staph infection in January. What’s even weirder, now head coach Romeo Crennel is thinking about disciplining Winslow for not keeping the problem “in-house.” Keep it in-house?! You’ve had five players go “out of the house” because they all came down with the same illness. Is that a coincidence? No one knows for sure exactly where the players got it and there’s no solid proof the Browns facility is responsible. But come on! No other pro football team—that we know of—has had as many outbreaks of staph infections. The Browns—in an effort to combat the problem—brought in special sanitizing equipment two years ago and claim to have brought in experts to counsel the players to try and educate them on how to combat and treat the problem. At least they recognize that there probably is a problem. Just don’t tell anyone else that there is one. Either way, whatever they’re doing isn’t working. Five players since 2005 isn’t a fluke. Some got it after surgery. Some got it somewhere between the field, the locker room and the training facility. Bottom line is, they contracted staph and for some it ended their career. And to get mad at Winslow for speaking about it makes the organization look even worse than their 2-4 record. And, for those of you who say this isn’t a “sports issue”, it is and it isn’t. When your second leading receiver is missing games—it’s a sports issue. When your players are fighting for their lives, it’s bigger. What do you think? Leave your comments below. Posted by: Sports Anchor Rafer Weigel |
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