Brash talking

So Kellen Winslow finally admits what everyone's known all along. He says he'll never be 100% percent. But in that Cleveland fantasy land that lies somewhere north of wishful thinking, Winslow's set up camp right next to Larry Dolan's spend-what-we-make philosophy of contending:

''I hate to be brash, but I think my 90 percent is still better than every tight end out there.'' -- Kellen Winslow Jr.

The most amazing revelation isn't that Kellen Winslow actually believes that at 90 percent he's better (Antonio Gates) than every (Tony Gonzalez) other tight end (Jeremy Shockey) in football (Todd Heap). It's that Kellen Winslow hates to be brash!

Brash is why K2 gets as much attention as he does. Brash is what he was after a game in college with Miami in November 2003, when he injured a Tennessee Volunteer player and then said, "If I didn't hurt him, he'd hurt me. They're gunnin' for my legs. I'm a soldier." Brash is what he was when he hopped on his motorcycle, popped a wheelie, then nearly popped his leg off his body last May. The fourth word in the first article posted on the Cleveland Browns own web site following the drafting of Winslow is "brash". Kellen was even called brash in one of the first newspaper headlines about him during training camp of 2004, after he plowed over former teammate Roosevelt Williams (who?) in practice.

Look, we all indulge in wishful thinking from time to time. Who doesn't want Scarlet Johansson to show up at his front door wearing a short raincoat, black boots, and nothing else? And we know you have a lot of self-confidence, Kellen. BUT YOU DO NOT HATE TO BE BRASH!

Kellen Winslow Jr. hates to be brash like Donald Trump hates to be rich, like Kobayashi hates hot dogs, like the Hulk hates to smash, and like God hates hating Cleveland sports.

And as far as that "better than every tight end out there" part goes? Well, not many of the ones considered the best right now have as many career receptions as surgeries.