Kellen Winslow Sparks Players' Concern

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) -- Drew Brees was in the water with great white sharks off the South African coast a couple years ago, and dove near Australia&#39;s Great Barrier Reef earlier this offseason.<br> <br> Yet the fear of injury precludes San Diego&#39;s Pro Bowl quarterback from doing everything on his wish list, including downhill skiing and skydiving.<br> <br> Brees, like most of the NFL players who came to South Florida for the league&#39;s annual quarterback challenge, expressed concern for Cleveland tight end Kellen Winslow Jr., who was seriously injured when he crashed his high-powered motorcycle earlier this month. <br> <br> &#34;You&#39;ve got to live life, but then again you only have a small window to achieve something not everybody gets a chance to do by playing in the NFL,&#34; Brees said Thursday from the challenge, to be taped Friday and televised this summer. &#34;Just kind of weigh those options and see what you can get away with.&#34;<br> <br> The standard NFL contract prohibits players from engaging in potentially dangerous activities, and Winslow could be required to pay back some of the $5.05 million in bonus money he already received from the Browns if he cannot play this season because of his accident.<br> <br> Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger - who was chided recently by coach Bill Cowher for riding a motorcycle without a helmet - said he and his agent reviewed everything forbidden by his contract as soon as he entered the league.<br> <br> Roethlisberger said Thursday he doesn&#39;t consider himself to be a risk-taker.<br> <br> &#34;I don&#39;t do the crazy things that they say you can&#39;t do,&#34; Roethlisberger said. &#34;I&#39;m getting a chance to live my life and do the things I want to do. I know there&#39;ll be plenty of time for me to do crazy things like skydive and stuff like that when I get older.&#34;<br> <br> Still, St. Louis receiver Torry Holt said he took Roethlisberger aside Wednesday and reiterated the need for caution when taking any undue risk.<br> <br> &#34;He understands. It&#39;s an unfortunate situation with Kellen and I hope he can learn something from this, that we all can learn something from this,&#34; Holt said. &#34;I don&#39;t know if all agents have gone through (forbidden contract items) with their clients. I think they will now.&#34;<br> <br> Cincinnati quarterback Carson Palmer was a Heisman Trophy winner at Southern California, the No. 1 pick in the 2003 draft, and received a contract with more than $14 million in bonus money alone.<br> <br> With that, he said, comes a certain amount of responsibility. So things like skiing and certain water sports will wait until his playing days are done.<br> <br> &#34;I&#39;d love to do a lot of that stuff, but it&#39;s just not worth it,&#34; Palmer said. &#34;The organization&#39;s invested too much in me and I owe it to them to take care of my body in the offseason, not do risky things like that.&#34;

http://accesswdun.com/article/2005/5/135100