San Diego Native Kellen Winslow II Sentenced (Again)

A Sad Situation No Matter How You View It

I’ve covered sports and coached for many years and there is probably nothing more saddening than to see an extremely talented individual in any sport go down the wrong path. It happens way more often than one might think; for every Drew Brees out there doing massive amounts of charitable work, there are thousands more that are caught up in the lifestyle of privilege and entitlement, or in many cases, become a victim of the physical punishment that football can bestow on a body. So, what was it in this case? We may never know, but Kellen Winslow II certainly committed several crimes against women, for which, he will be residing in state prison for many years.

On Wednesday, the judge in Winslow’s case sentenced the disgraced first round pick tight end to the maximum term of 14 years behind bars while tersely describing him as a “sexual predator”, sparing no sympathy for the athlete.

In all, Winslow, 37, was sentenced for sexual offenses against five victims, including a homeless woman in 2018. Other victims included a 54-year-old hitchhiker and a teen who had passed out at a party, acting lewdly in front of a 77-year-old gym patron and exposing himself to a 57-year-old neighbor in her garden.

Winslow’s legal team has presented CTE (Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy) caused by repeated blows to the head from playing football as his defense. CTE causes memory loss, confusion, changes in personality, erratic behavior, aggression and depression, among other things. Or was it simply a talented young man who grew up in an entitled environment (Hall of Fame tight end Kellen Winslow is his father) and felt like he could do anything he felt like doing, when he felt like doing it – or a combination of both? Winslow, already in prison, refused to elaborate, but either way, we may never know. But he’ll be behind bars for a long while.  

It’s also extremely important here that we recognize the victims. These women will likely suffer lifelong trauma and never really recover from the crimes perpetrated against them. They are the real victims here. The whole thing is so sad.