Winslow, AWOL for Day, May Be Fined : He Skips Practice, Goes to Canada to Hype New Drink

No one blinks when a sailor goes AWOL in this town, but it’s a different matter altogether when the tight end of the San Diego Chargers skips practice without permission. And when it turns out that he has skipped the country for a day to promote a nutritional soft drink, eyebrows are going to be raised.

Kellen Winslow faces a fine and a reprimand today when he sits down with Coach Don Coryell and explains why he went to Vancouver, B.C., on Monday without telling anyone affiliated with the Chargers that he wouldn’t be at practice.

Coryell, the Charger front office and a goodly number of media types spent much of Tuesday trying to track down the tight end, who happened to be observing his 28th birthday. The working assumption was that Winslow was upset over not getting to play very much in Sunday’s 30-10 win over the Denver Broncos.

As it turns out, Winslow was in Vancouver to hype a beverage known as “Lytes,”a concoction similar to Gator Ade. Winslow is a shareholder in the company that makes the drink.

Winslow’s whereabouts became known when a reporter from the Vancouver Sun telephoned The Times after reading an account of the player’s disappearance. The Sun, which ran a story on Winslow’s whirlwind visit to that city in some of its Tuesday editions, reported that the player had appeared at the training camp headquarters of several Canadian Football League teams last summer.

“Our goal is to turn training camp into a profit center,” the paper quoted Winslow as saying, which seems to indicate he has future plans to hawk the nutritional drink north of the border.

All of this came as a relief, sort of, to Coryell, who had publicly expressed concern for Winslow’s well-being.

Once he learned that his all-world tight end was safe, however, Coryell’s relief quickly gave way to discontent.

“I’m very disappointed,” Coryell said Tuesday night. “Obviously, none of us knew where he was. He left without permission. I’ll talk it over with him today. I’ve never had to fine him before . . . and I don’t know what the maximum fine is for something like this.”

Earlier, when it was first learned that Winslow failed to report Monday for practice, meetings and treatment, he appeared to be facing a fine of up to $500 for his unexplained absence.

“It seems a little irresponsible,” said Ron Nay, chief adviser to team owner Alex Spanos. “I hope he got more for being there than his fine is going to be.

“But let’s don’t get carried away. There isn’t going to be a suspension or anything. I see this as a minor thing. If he were a second-team linebacker, nobody would be writing a word about it.”

Maybe not, but the disappearing tight end had caused quite a stir earlier in the day.

Winslow could not be contacted by the Chargers either Monday or Tuesday. When contacted by a reporter, his sister, Valerie, said Winslow was OK physically, and had no special plans for a birthday party.

“He’s been in and out all day,” she said when reached at the player’s home. “Last time I saw him, he looked OK. Why, is something wrong?”

Coryell was concerned about the player’s whereabouts and unhappy that he had not notified the team that he wouldn’t be at practice Monday. Tuesday was an off day and players were not due to report to the stadium until 9 a.m. Wednesday.

Coryell had indicated a fine was imminent, saying, “I hope he shows up today (Wednesday).” Under terms of the collective bargaining agreement, the fine could be as much as $500 for missing a practice, meeting or treatment period.

Winslow was believed to be unhappy over his lack of playing time in Sunday’s 30-10 win over the Denver Broncos. He participated in only four plays, all running plays. At one point, as he came off the field, he was observed to flip his helmet under the bench, as if upset.

His mother, Odell Winslow, said by phone from the family home in East St. Louis, Ill., that she had not spoken with him since last week.

“I tried to reach him this morning (Tuesday) to wish him a happy birthday, but he wasn’t there,” she said. “I’m sure he’d have called me before now if there was anything seriously wrong or if he was upset. He was in good spirits when I talked to him after the Raiders game.”

The veteran tight end, who had returned to action only two weeks ago from a knee injury that had sidelined him for a year, practiced very little last week.

He had suffered a rib injury in an Oct. 28 loss to the Raiders, and his right knee was also stiff and sore after that game. Accordingly, he did not practice last Wednesday or Thursday, and took part on a limited basis in Friday’s practice.

Trainer Ric McDonald said Winslow was physically able to perform in Sunday’s game against Denver. “As far as I could tell, he was fine,” McDonald said.

In accordance with a Coryell policy that the best-prepared players are the ones who should play most in a given game, the Chargers primarily employed Pete Holohan and Eric Sievers at tight end in Sunday’s win over Denver.

Winslow, who did not receive any additional wounds in his limited appearance against Denver, was said to be miffed that he didn’t play more.

“If he’s unhappy, that’s too bad, he should go to practice,” said Nay earlier Tuesday.

“I haven’t talked with Mr. Spanos about this yet because it didn’t seem like a major deal. Kellen may have a legitimate excuse. But I wish he had called somebody.”

Winslow was due to report for meetings and treatment at 1 p.m. Monday, according to Coryell. No one noticed that he was not present for meetings or for a short practice session that followed, and it wasn’t until 6 p.m. that Winslow’s absence was observed.

“We tried to call to make sure he wasn’t dead,” Coryell said. “He might have been in an accident, you never know.”

Winslow apparently had not missed any previous meetings or practices at which his presence was required.