Ex NFL star Kellen Winslow Jr. arrested for raping older women
Kellen Winslow Jr. facing possible life in prison for raping five women, aged 54-86
Former NFL star Kellen Winslow Jr. was arrested in Encinitas, Calif., where he lives, after five women in the area accused him of multiple crimes. The women, aged 54 to 86, said Winslow, 34, assaulted them in separate incidents during a period of March to June of this year. He was charged with kidnapping, rape, forcible sodomy, burglary and indecent exposure. Winslow, who faces possible lifetime in prison, pleaded innocent to all charges. Once the highest-paid tight end in the league, he is the son of Hall of Fame tight end Kellen Winslow Sr.
Between the Lines: Sources close to Winslow said his defense will include testimony that he suffered brain trauma during his 9-year NFL career that ended in 2013, when he was 30.
‘The Jon Gruden Bump’ has Raiders favored in AFC West
Oddsmakers in Las Vegas and New Jersey (which now operates legal sports books) have established the Oakland Raiders as favorites in the AFC West, even though they were 6-10 last year. The Raiders are 12/1 to win the Super Bowl, with defending AFC West winner Kansas City at 25/1. Chris Simms, who formerly quarterbacked for Jon Gruden at Tampa Bay, said on Pro Football Talk (NBCSN) that odds are distorted by “the Gruden Bump.” Gruden won the Super Bowl (January 2003) in his first season coaching the Buccaneers, so much of the betting public expects something similar in Oakland. Simms does not see that happening. “You’ve got a quarterback (Derek Carr) coming off a back injury who didn’t play well,” Simms said. “And you have a defense that hasn’t been good at any time in the recent past. . . . Jon Gruden’s certainly worth a few wins, I know that, but there’s better teams top to bottom in this division when you look at the rosters.”
Between the Lines: The Raiders’ line is not the only one that seems out of line. The Cleveland Browns, winless last season, have Super Bowl odds of 75/1 at some casinos, while the Seattle Seahawks are 50/1 and Baltimore Ravens 100/1.
Stanley Cup-winning coach Trotz decides to walk
Ten days after his Washington Capitals won their first Stanley Cup ever, Barry Trotz resigned as coach when he saw no other way to resolve a salary dispute. At $1.5 million per year, Trotz is one of the lowest-paid coaches in the National Hockey League. By comparison, Toronto’s Mike Babcock earns $6.25 million per year, Chicago’s Joel Quenneville $6 million and Montreal’s Claude Julien $5 million. Trotz’s contract with the Caps had a clause granting him a 2-year extension with a $300,000 per-year raise for winning the Cup, but he wanted more than that, and he wanted it sooner.
Between the Lines: Caps’ management did not defend Trotz or offer an extension when he was taking heat from media late in the regular season. He’s now a free agent who’s expected to be interviewed by the New York Islanders, who fired their coach, Doug Weight.
Thunder fire announcer who said Westbrook played ‘out of his cotton-pickin’ mind’
The Oklahoma City Thunder are not renewing the contract of Brian Davis, the team’s play-by-play announcer for ten years. No official reason was given for the dismissal, but you would not be wrong to assume it’s the result of Davis saying on air that Russell Westbrook “is out of his cotton-pickin’ mind.” He was using an expression commonly heard in the South (though Davis is from the Midwest) but offensive to those whose ancestors actually picked cotton as slaves. Among those offended was Russell Westbrook: “What he said wasn’t OK.” Davis was suspended for the first game of a postseason that did not go well for the Thunder. Was he a distraction? Or a scapegoat? Most inconveniently for him, his contract expired when his stock was at its lowest.
Between the Lines: Davis has an annoying propensity for clichés. Most are harmless, but this one showed a lack of sensitivity for African-Americans, who make up an overwhelming majority of NBA rosters.