FanHouse

In 1995, when Kellen Winslow Sr. delivered his Pro Football Hall of Fame induction speech, he used it as an opportunity to denounce the NFL's abysmal record of minority hiring. His voice has been an important one, but in a sick irony, a con-man has started impersonating Winslow and sucking African-American coaches into a money-wiring scheme.

From conversations I've had with coaches who say they were bilked, these seem to be low-risk, small payout operations built around a smooth-talking con artist. The plan had to be swiftly executed: find an eager assistant coach looking for that one big break, hook the assistant in emotionally, hastily schedule an interview, get the money, then disappear.

One small-school assistant coach offered details to FanHouse on how the scam was perpetrated on him. "When you're a young unknown coach and Kellen Winslow, Hall of Famer, calls you, you don't ask a lot of questions," said the coach, who asked that his name not be used for this story. "You don't want to blow an opportunity."

On a recent Monday afternoon, the assistant received a voicemail from someone identifying himself as "Kellen Winslow Sr." "Winslow" explained that he represented the NFL Players Association, a mutual acquaintance had spoken highly of the assistant, and he had some potentially interesting job leads.

Intrigued, the assistant returned "Winslow's" call a few hours later and was told that he was a potential candidate for a minority internship with an NFL team.

"Winslow" painted himself as standing at the nexus of coaching opportunities. He said that he was able to get his nephew, a recent Harvard graduate "with more book smarts than street smarts", a similar job. "Winslow" also mentioned that new University of Nebraska head coach Bo Pellini was looking for a young minority defensive assistant to help coach the linebackers.

The assistant agreed to meet "Winslow" the following morning, when "Winslow" would fly in to discuss the opportunities further, accompanied by his nephew. There were two stated reason for bringing the nephew along: First, to discuss his NFL internship experience, and second, because "Winslow" wanted the assistant to talk with the nephew about the importance of hard work.

The assistant told me that last bit was critical to breaking down his guard. "Winslow" painted his nephew as a naïve young man of privilege, one who wasn't familiar with the idea of an honest day's work for an honest day's pay. In hindsight, it 's obvious that "Winslow" knew this was an angle that would likely appeal to someone who had devoted their life to coaching

With a sense of trust established, "Winslow" cautioned the assistant against discussing their conversation with peers because "people are jealous" and that it might "cast Pellini in a bad light." The assistant agreed, allowing "Winslow" to continue operating under a veil of secrecy.

"Winslow" finalized the details of the next day's meeting by giving the assistant his flight number, the hotel where he would be staying and even his home number. He said that he would phone early the following morning.

After hanging up, the assistant immediately called his former employer, a small-school college head coach. Ironically, the head coach had heard through the coaching grapevine that "Kellen Winslow Sr." had talked to other assistants with like-sounding offers. But what the head coach had yet to learn -- maybe because "Winslow" counseled his potential "clients" against discussing such opportunities -- was that this was a shakedown.

The next morning, "Winslow" phoned, as scheduled, but reported that his nephew, departing from another airport, had checked his luggage with his identification packed inside. Compounding matters, he had lost his cell phone. "Winslow" couldn't help because he was currently en route; he had "thousands of dollars on him and a wallet full of credit cards" but they were no good from the first-class seat he currently occupied at 30,000 feet.

"Winslow" repeated the storyline that such absent-mindedness was exactly why he wanted the assistant to have a heart-to-heart with the nephew. Which explains why the assistant then asked, "What do you need me to do?"

"Winslow" then pretended to be embarrassed. The assistant recalls him saying, "I don't know you -- I've only talked to you on the phone a couple of times ... I don't trust you ... I've found a way to get my nephew the money but I don't have anyone to help me it carry it out..."

When faced with the prospect of missing out on the chance for advancement that might never come again, the assistant offered to purchase the plane ticket.

The assistant ended up wiring several hundred dollars to a Western Union for "Winslow's" nephew. The money was picked up 20 minutes after the transaction was finalized. Predictably, "Winslow" was never heard from again. He didn't answer his cell and the home phone number that he had so guardedly offered the day before turned out to be a fax.

In hindsight, there were logical questions to press "Winslow" on. How could someone check their bags without a boarding pass? Why couldn't "Winslow" call the airlines on the same phone he had used to call the assistant and offered to pay for the airfare with one of his "wallet full of credit cards"?

In the victim's defense, I would simply point out that from the start this (apparently widespread) con seemed to have much less to do with logic than the emotional pull of "Winslow's" various arguments.

Indeed, the con artist seems to be acutely aware of how desperate mid-level NCAA coaches can be to grab onto a networking opportunity when it appears. As Dennis Cordell, an agent with Coaches Inc., told me, "Unlike the NFL, where there is a system in place to promote minority hirings, the college ranks has no formal interview search process."

The differences go way beyond the Rooney Rule; the NFL encourages all assistants to work on their job skills, staging mock interviews that are videotaped and cataloged for owners and general managers to consult during the hiring process.

In contrast, a college athletic director will likely have an informal list of candidates in mind -- guys he knows -- before the interview process. Any collegiate coach quickly learns how critical it is to get on that informal list.

Cordell has notified his African-American clients, and he told me that one, a Division III assistant coach, had already heard "Winslow's" spiel earlier this month. But he was skeptical from the start.

"Why would Kellen Winslow need to borrow money from me?" the assistant told FanHouse. "It didn't sound right and I told him he would have to call me back. That was the last I heard from him."

It's a good question, and one that might seem obvious. But it apparently it isn't to everyone. Otherwise some guy claiming to be Kellen Winslow wouldn't still be running a scam.

A call placed to the real Kellen Winslow, who currently serves as Director of Planning & New Event Business Development for Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex, was not returned.

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