Friday, June 15, 2007

Browns TE Kellen Winslow Dumps Poston's As Agents - Hires Drew Rosenhaus - Profootballtalk.com



This indicates that Winslow's interested in preparing for a larger contract in the not-to-distant future.

WINSLOW MAKES AGENT CHANGE - PROFOOTBALLTALK.COM

Multiple league sources have informed us that Browns tight end Kellen Winslow has hired agent Drew Rosenhaus. Winslow previously was represented by Carl and Kevin Poston.

Carl Poston was summarily suspended by the NFLPA in 2006 due to alleged delays in the resolution of Poston's appeal of a two-year suspension resulting from his admitted failure to read the final draft of a new contract for then-Redskins linebacker LaVar Arrington. The contract allegedly was supposed to pay two separate $6.5 million roster bonuses in 2006, and Poston claimed that the team pulled one of the roster bonuses from the last version of the deal. He said that he didn't notice the omission because he didn't read the contract. A league source tells us that the hearing on the original suspension will be conducted in September.

It's unclear whether Winslow made the change because of Carl Poston's status, or whether there were other factors. We've previously pointed out that Winslow's rookie deal contained a multi-million-dollar bonus tied to minimum playing time, but that it applied to his rookie season only. Most contracts of this nature allow for the payment to be triggered by reaching the 35-percent threshold in any year of the deal. Because Winslow broke a leg while playing special teams in 2004 and did not qualify for the payment, it was forever lost.

The hiring of Rosenhaus could be a sign that Winslow wants a new contract. However, it was only a year ago that the Browns and Winslow resolved the unfortunate "vroom-vroom, smash" incident by taking back some bonus money, adding a year to the deal, and giving him the opportunity to earn back the lost bonus money via incentives.

He currently is signed through 2010, and is due to earn a salary of $2 million in 2007. Rosenhaus will be eligible for no fee unless and until a new contract is negotiated.

But Winslow has bigger issues than his contract. He is recovering from microfracture surgery, and there are indications that he will be limited at the start of training camp. Still, he played well in 2006 and, if his knee allows him to play, he likely will continue to perform at a high level.

Letter To SF Chron's Phil Bronstein - In Ellen Lee's YouTube / CNN Story, "The Man" Is Zennie Abraham

In Ellen Lee's YouTube / CNN Story, "the man" she referred to is me...

Zennie Abraham.

Phil, Ellen knows who I am. We met several times, first through mutual friends at a tech function, then again at Vloggercon where she knows my friend Dina Kaplan of Blip.tv (who reintroduced us) and, where she said she'd call to ask me about Sports Business Simulations and video-blogging.

She never did.

Now, I was one of six blacks out of 300 people in attendance, and live in Oakland.

Then I saw her again -- but said nothing -- at the Vloggies. Then I've been at Web 2.0 and other events. And I continue video-blogging and running my online simulation company.

After following Ellen's request to call her, and hearing nothing back, yet seeing person after white person being presented by her in the SF Chron, I felt there was a problem and did in express this concern to her, but no feedback. Hey, it's a hard subject to adress, but it's something that must be done.

Now, YouTube commissioned me to make a sample video to show the nation how a debate question is to be asked. It's at
http://www.youtube.com/debates

I'm featured promimently in the video -- I'm first and credited. She could have tried to contact me; she did not.

So Ellen writes this, and starts with "a man stands in front of a check cashing center..."

That man is me.

What's the deal Phil? Is Ellen's prejudice against me for whatever reason so great she can't even bring herself to get the real story, let alone explain it even if it involves a Bay Area resident, and particularly someone of color making a mark in Video-Blogging?

This is troubling to me. I hope you agree and investigate this.

Best,

Zennie