In response to the
profanity laced tirade by the University of Miami Tight End Kellen Winslow, Jr. in which he averred that the other team is out to "kill him" and he is a "f*&%ing soldier", and the
apology issued today, I sent the following letter to the Athletic Director of the University of Miami.
Mr. Dee,
Upon hearing the comments of University of Miami student and football player Kellen Winslow Jr. After your team's loss this past weekend, I was deeply offended. After reading the scripted apology issued through your department, I am even more offended. While military analogies permeate the world of sports, especially football, Mr. Winslow's statements went beyond the pale of athletic jargon. To angrily claim that he was "a (expletive) soldier," and, "They're out there to kill you, so I'm out there to kill them," is a far cry from the usual, "win the battle of the trenches," or, "throwing a long bomb." As a veteran of the invasion of Panama and the first Gulf War, I would like to tell Mr. Winslow that it is not only the magnitude of war that he can not begin to imagine, but the sacrifice, dedication, and honor that escapes him as well.
My grandfather was shot down in his P-38 over Paris, while strafing a rail-yard, 6 days after D-day. His back was broken as he ejected, yet the French farmer whose field he parachuted into was able to hide him for several days before the Germans captured him and sent him to a POW camp for the rest of the war. He sacrificed those years of his life, the pain of injury and rehabilitation so that all of us, Mr. Winslow included, could live the life and enjoy the freedoms to which we Americans hold dearly. And so it is with every war Americans fight in. Whether it is a popular war or not, young men and now women are there laying down their lives for their buddies, their officers and their country.
Perhaps it would benefit Mr. Winslow to take a weekend off to visit Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington DC to visit with a soldier or two who actually has had his legs taken out by the "other team" for a little perspective. It would do him well to hear the story first hand of a life in which the best way to make a living is to volunteer to 'support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic' and what can happen when one is called to uphold that oath. If you or coach Coker feel that Mr. Winslow is too important of a football player to lose for a single game, then I would suggest that it is not only Mr. Winslow that needs a healthy dose of perspective.
Happy Veteran's Day
Jason Wells
Portland, OR