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Kellen Winslow Jr. got some high praise from his Hall-of-Fame father, former Charger tight end Kellen Winslow Sr.
According to an understandably biased father, the Cleveland Browns made a huge upgrade at tight end by picking Kellen Winslow Jr. in last weekend's NFL draft.
Kellen Winslow Sr. says his kid is even better than he was.
"If I was Kellen Winslow 1.0," the 47-year-old Hall of Famer said, "he's Kellen Winslow 2.0."
The Browns traded up one spot in the first round on Saturday to nab the younger Winslow, Miami's talented All-American whose apparent lack of humility may be his lone flaw.
Winslow Jr. not only calls himself "The Chosen One", but during his introductory news conference with the Browns said he expects one day to exceed the accomplishments of his father, who helped revolutionize the tight end position over nine seasons with San Diego.
"I'm not going to lie," the Winslow man-child said. "I think I can be (better)."
The elder Winslow thinks so, too. He says his namesake is already more gifted than he was at 21.
"I never ran like that," Winslow said, referring to his son's 4.55 in the 40-yard dash. "He's faster than I was, he's quicker than I was and he's had more exposure to the game than I did at this point in my career."
Winslow Jr.'s versatility will allow the Browns to use him in a variety of roles on offense.
His speed should create mismatches against linebackers, and his size -- 6-foot-4, 240 or so pounds -- will make it tough for cornerbacks to handle him.
It's a dimension the Browns haven't had offensively since Ozzie Newsome, another Hall of Fame tight end, played for them in the 1980s.
Coach Butch Davis, who helped recruit Winslow to Miami, said the club didn't swap first-round picks with Detroit and give up a second-round pick to chose Winslow Jr. solely on pedigree.
"We didn't draft him because of his father," Davis said. "But there is a certain element of drive that adds to the I-want-to-be-better-than-Dad attitude."
Winslow Sr. said he never wanted to name his son Kellen.
"That was his mother's idea," he said.
The father also tried to steer his little boy away from football at a young age, not wanting him to be branded with having to live up to the name.
"I said, 'Go play basketball, work on the athleticism of basketball and bring those to football,"' Winslow Sr. said. "And I believe it shows. His footwork is directly related to soccer and basketball."
But the kid's heart belongs to football. Along with inheriting his father's wondrous abilities, Winslow Jr. picked up his dad's competitiveness and a fiery personality that at times burns too brightly.
Winslow Sr. never backed down from anyone -- coaches, teammates, defenders or even officials.
"I didn't take any stuff from other people," said Winslow, enshrined in Canton in 1995. "I had shouting matches after a play, pushing and shoving. He's playing the same way I played."
In his final season with the Hurricanes, Winslow Jr. made headlines for a postgame tirade following a loss to Tennessee.
Pressed to explain the defeat and a costly unsportsmanlike conduct penalty against him, Winslow Jr. launched into a profane recitation in which he called himself "a soldier" and compared the game to being at war. He later apologized.
Asked on Saturday what he had learned from the experience, Winslow Jr. said on "the greatest day of my life, for that question to come up, it's irrelevant."
Winslow Sr. raised Kellen as a single parent from the time he was 5, teaching the youngster to speak his mind. He wasn't bothered by his son's comments.
"What I had a problem with was that he wasn't strong enough to say no and walk away," he said.
Winslow Sr. also disagrees that his son has a temper like him.
"He's doesn't like to lose, so at times he gets very intense," he said. "As he's gotten older, he's learned how to channel that passion and intensity -- and if that sounds like a defensive father, you're damn right it is."
Source: AP