Kellen Boswell Winslow II (born July 21, 1983) is an American former professional football tight end who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 10 seasons. The son of Pro Football Hall of Fame tight end Kellen Winslow, he played college football for the Miami Hurricanes, he won the John Mackey Award and earned unanimous All-American in 2003. He was selected sixth overall by the Cleveland Browns in the 2004 NFL draft.
Winslow received Pro Bowl honors in 2007 with the Browns, but his tenure was marked by injuries and conflict with management, leading to his departure after five years. He spent his next three seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Winslow last played for the New England Patriots and New York Jets for one season each. In 2019, Winslow pleaded guilty to rape and sexual battery and sentenced in 2021 to 14 years in prison.
Winslow was born in San Diego, California, the son of San Diego Chargers tight end Kellen Winslow, a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He attended Patrick Henry High School, in San Diego, for his freshmen and sophomore years of high school and Scripps Ranch High School for his junior and senior years.
Winslow enrolled at the University of Miami, where he played for coach Larry Coker's Miami Hurricanes football team from 2001 to 2003.
During his freshman season, in 2001, he backed up All-American tight end Jeremy Shockey and played largely on special teams, and was one of four true freshmen to play for the Hurricanes' 2001 BCS National Championship team; the three others were future NFL players Frank Gore, Antrel Rolle, and Sean Taylor.
After Shockey's departure for the 2002 NFL draft, Winslow became the starter at tight end and was named a finalist for the Mackey Award and named a first-team All-American by CNNSI.com, setting University of Miami records for a tight end with 57 receptions for 726 yards and eight touchdowns. His best game came during the 2003 Fiesta Bowl, which was the site of the BCS National Championship game that year, in which he caught 11 passes for 122 yards and one touchdown in the Hurricanes 31–24 loss to Ohio State Buckeyes.
Winslow received national attention following a 2003 University of Miami game with the Tennessee Volunteers. Eighteenth-ranked Tennessee defeated No. 6 Miami on the Hurricanes home field by a score of 10–6. During a sweep play for Miami wide receiver/cornerback Devin Hester, Winslow blocked two Volunteers, effectively taking both defenders out of the play. When questioned during the media session following the game, Winslow referred to himself as "a ... [sic] soldier", despite never serving in the military. He later apologized for the remarks.
Despite a slight drop in production during his junior season, in which Winslow caught 60 passes for 605 yards and one touchdown, he won the John Mackey Award as the nation's best collegiate tight end, and was recognized as a unanimous first-team All-American, after receiving first-team honors from the Associated Press and other national selector organizations. After the season, Winslow decided to forgo his senior season and declared himself eligible for the 2004 NFL draft.
Winslow was drafted by the Cleveland Browns with the sixth pick in the first round of the 2004 NFL draft, making him the highest-selected tight end in more than 30 years. Cleveland head coach Butch Davis was also the coach who recruited Winslow to the University of Miami before leaving for the NFL prior to ever coaching Winslow in college.
Winslow was expected to give the Cleveland offense an immediate boost. Two games into his rookie season, however, he suffered a broken right fibula, which cost him $5.3 million in incentive bonuses. The injury kept him on the sidelines for the remainder of the year after having only recorded five catches for 50 yards. After two operations on the injured leg, Winslow made a complete recovery.
On May 1, 2005, Winslow suffered another leg injury when he was thrown from his Suzuki GSX-R750 motorcycle while riding in the Cleveland suburb of Westlake. Winslow sustained a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee and was placed on the "Physically Unable-to-Perform (Non Football Injury)" list for the 2005 season. Winslow later had a six-week staph infection that resulted from the injury.
Winslow attended the Browns' 2006 training camp and pronounced himself ready to play. The Associated Press reported in August 2006 that Winslow said that, even at 90 percent, he was superior to every other NFL tight end. "I hate to be brash", Winslow said. "But I think my 90 percent is still better than every tight end out there."
In the opening game of the 2006 NFL season against the New Orleans Saints, Winslow recorded his first NFL touchdown, scoring on an 18-yard pass from quarterback Charlie Frye. Winslow emerged as a reliable target for Cleveland, finishing the year with 89 receptions, the most at his position on the season, which also tied Ozzie Newsome's all-time franchise record for receptions in a season. Winslow underwent microfracture surgery on his right knee January 31, 2007, at the Cleveland Clinic in an attempt to further repair cartilage damage sustained in the motorcycle accident in 2005.
Winslow had a successful season and finished with 82 receptions for 1,106 yards and five touchdowns. On December 18, Winslow was named as a first alternate for the 2008 Pro Bowl. On February 4, Antonio Gates of the San Diego Chargers announced he would not be attending the Pro Bowl due to injury. This paved the way for Winslow to make his first trip to the Pro Bowl. Winslow was one of 6 Browns selected for the Pro Bowl that season.
The Browns also had their most successful season in recent memory. For the first time since 1994, Cleveland had double-digit wins with a 10–6 record. The Browns narrowly missed 2007–08 NFL playoffs and were the only 9+ win team not to qualify for the NFL's postseason tournament.
During the 2008 season, Winslow was hospitalized with a staph infection. Winslow then openly criticized former GM Phil Savage about not fixing the infection problem (the Browns had seven cases of staph infection in the last few years), and trying to hide the injury. Savage responded by suspending him for a week; owner Randy Lerner later apologized to Winslow and rescinded the suspension.
Winslow was traded to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on February 27, 2009, for their 2nd-round pick in the 2009 NFL draft and their 5th-round pick in the 2010 NFL draft. He received the biggest contract for a tight end in NFL history with a 6-year, $36 million deal.
Winslow went on to a record-breaking season with the Buccaneers in his first year with the team, including single-season franchise records for a tight end in receptions (77) and receiving yards (884). His 77 catches led the team that season.