Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128378
By rEARDOWN PAUL CARRUTHERS The Longest Yard wonder if Mat Mladin's contract has a clause in it that prohibits him Browns last year who missed almost all of his rookie season with a broken leg (from from playing tackle football. If he played in the NFL, he'd certainly actually playing football!) - suffered a damaged right shoulder, a bruised kidney and I have the standard paragraph three a lacerated liver. All that will heal qUickly that would forbid him from "engaging in any activity that may involve a significant risk of personal injury." Those activities enough, but what has him in trouble with his football career (and contract) is the are usually the industry standard: those pesky sports such as skydiving, hang gliding, mountain climbing, auto racing, motorcycling, scuba diving and skiing. Perhaps they could make the language fact that he also suffered damage to his right knee. Hey, did I mention that Winslow's little contract with the Browns is worth $40 million? in the standard NFL contract significantly We all think it's pretty peachy when stars from other sports, actors and shorter by just making paragraph three read: "Players are forbidden from engag- actresses, and other celebrities get involved with motorcycling. It's all good ing in any activity that doesn't allow them to be an idiot and get away with it." It appears as though Cleveland Browns tight end Kellen Winslow Jr. may end up paying big for violating paragraph three in his NFL contract. As much as it pains me to say it, because his father was one of my favorites as a San Diego Charger, young Mr. Winslow was pretty much an idiot when he decided it was time to learn to ride a motorcycle in a community college parking lot in Cleveland. Armed with a learner's permit, a helmet that wasn't fastened at the chin, a Suzuki GSX-R7S0, and four buddies to cheer him on, Winslow went off to polish his skills in the college parking lot. Memo to NFLers wanting to learn to ride a motorcycle: Try a Yamaha TTR 12S, a Honda XR I00... well, anything but a 120-horsepower sportbike. And if you're smart enough to follow this memo and use a small, easy-to-ride motorcycle while polishing your skills, go ahead and also fasten that helmet, big guy. If it's not fastened, you might as well not even bother. Fortunately, Winslow - who, while at the University of Miami, actually anointed himself as "The Chosen One" didn't hit his head. Or perhaps he did. Opting for his sportbike of choice, Winslow crashed at around 3S mph, according to police reports, when he struck a curb with his front tire. The 6foot-4-inch, 2S0-pound tight end went over the bars and into a planter, taking out a small tree on his way down. The 21year-old - a first-round draft pick by the stuff. Pictures of them on motorcycles appear in magazines and on television. We open our arms to them and make If you think motorcycling gets good ink 2002 NBA draft, crushed the main nerve and coverage when the stars come out to ride, just watch when they wad them up. in his left leg. He also tore three of the four main ligaments in his left knee and Put it this way: If you paid attention to the national media at all last week, then you year of his contract, then waived him a saw more photos of Winslow's smashed- year later. After litigation, the team up Suzuki than you will ever see in those same publications of Mladin's GSX-R reached a settlement with the player, parked in the winner's circle of an AMA Superbike National. reported $3 million. He hasn't played When these superstars of fame and fortune crash, we also get to see how inept the media is when it comes to their knowledge of motorcycling. Or the motorcycle, period. Case in point: A story in the Orange County (California) Register started with following: "Cleveland Browns tight end Kellen Winslow Jr. might have chal- fractured his pelvis. The Bulls honored a buying him out of his contract for a professionally since. No word on if he's back on the bike, however. And you might remember that second baseman Jeff Kent, now a Los Angeles Dodger, broke his wrist while a member of the San Francisco Giants in 2002. But at least Kent, an avid and capable motorcyclist, was doing wheelies. If you're gonna go, go big. At least be wheeleying the damn thing. And who can forget Atlanta Braves That's right, big Kellen actually kick-started his GSX-R750. And that is no mean feat. It's also something "The Chosen One" won't be able to do for a while. outfielder Ron Gant? Gant crashed his motorcycle in 1994 and broke his leg. He was cut from the team, losing out on his multimillion-dollar salary. Again, Gant did all he could to put motorcycling right on the front page of the sports section. But motorcycles aren't alone in providing the means necessary for these guys to get hurt off the field of play. Snowmobiles, pick-up basketball games and personal watercraft have also contributed to the them heroes for their ability to actually lenged more than his mortality when he demise of these athletes, who, given their be able to ride a motorcycle and be kick-started his 200S Suzuki GSX-R7S0 abilities, should probably just stick with famous at the same time. We even have last Sunday... " That's right, big Kellen the one sport they're good at. an industry-backed association to make actually kick storted his GSX-R7S0. And But they probably won't. Motorcycles sure they are treated right... like the VIPs are good fun. We all know that. But a lot that they are. It all gives motorcycling a that is no mean feat. It's also something "The Chosen One" won't be able to do nice little image that helps sell the sport for a while. it. Or very smart about it. to the masses (aided perhaps even by the Internet porn-site star who, accord- The same reporter then reasoned, "Winslow reportedly had a motorcycle Associated Press asked Pittsburgh Steeler ing to one AMA Superbike star, was rid- learner's permit to operate the powerful, quarterback Ben Roethlisberger why he ing 7S0cc, four-stroke, 360-pound chopper." doesn't even bother to wear a helmet on Yep, a chopper. Perhaps Winslow's GSX- his motorcycle - yet he wears one when R looked like a chopper after the crash, playing football. Roethlisberger quickly around the pits at California Speedway on his GSX-R). But then it all ends up reminding me of of these guys just don't seem very good at On the heels of Winslow's crash, the the old saying that parents like to banter but it definitely wasn't one when he first pointed out that Pennsylvania's 3S-year- about occasionally: "It's all good fun until kick-storted it. old state law requiring helmets to be someone loses an eye." Winslow isn't the first and he won't be the last to make headlines for incom- worn was amended two years ago. petence on a motorcycle. In 2003, people need to [wear a helmet)," he fun when they strike immovable objects Chicago Bulls point guard Jay Williams and injure themselves and their shiny rode his Yamaha R6 into a utility pole. Williams, the number-two pick in the said. "There's a law you've got to wear it in football." And we all lose an eye when guys like Winslow come along and ruin all of that new motorcycles. "ObViously Pennsylvania doesn't think Enough said. CYCLE NEWS • MAY 18,2005 eN 9S