Former NFL tight end Kellen Winslow II, the namesake son of the legendary Charger and NFL Hall of Famer, is seeking to reduce his 14-year prison term in his rape case, arguing that he’s eligible for a more favorable sentence due to new state sentencing laws that benefit defendants who experienced childhood trauma. Winslow’s petition, filed with a state appeals court, argues that his stepfather physically abused him and two cousins sexually abused him when he was a child, causing psychological damage that makes him eligible for a lower sentence than the one he received in March 2021 from a Vista Superior Court judge. Winslow also argued that suspected brain damage from playing football — he estimated in a sworn declaration that he “probably suffered 100 concussions” — contributed to the trauma that should qualify him for the reduced sentence. “Petitioner is not asking to be released from prison at this time, but he does meet the criteria for relief … given the trauma [brain damage] he received in his life of football, physical and sexual abuse he was subjected to as a child, and the impact of his debilitating motorcycle accident,” his attorney wrote in a petition for writ of habeas corpus filed last week in California’s 4th District Court of Appeal. Winslow, 41, grew up in San Diego and attended Patrick Henry and Scripps Ranch high schools before starring in football for the University of Miami. The sixth overall draft pick in 2004, he played in the NFL for 10 seasons, until 2013. He reportedly earned more than $40 million over his NFL career. Winslow was convicted during a 2019 trial of raping a 58-year-old homeless woman he had persuaded to join him for coffee. The jury also convicted him of misdemeanor sexual misconduct charges for exposing himself to a 57-year-old neighbor in Encinitas and lewd behavior in front of a 77-year-old woman in a Carlsbad gym. Charlie NeumanKellen Winslow II, seen here during a November 2019 hearing, pleaded guilty to additional sex crimes on the day his retrial was set to begin in Vista. The jury deadlocked on several charges related to two other alleged rapes, one in 2003 involving an unconscious teen — the girl was 17 while Winslow was 19 at the time — and one in 2018 involving a 54-year-old hitchhiker in Encinitas. On the day he was set to be retried for those incidents, and with the possibility of a lifetime prison sentence if convicted, he instead pleaded guilty to lesser charges. With the jury convictions and guilty pleas combined, he initially faced a sentence between 12 and 18 years, then negotiated a 14-year prison term. At sentencing, Superior Court Judge Blaine Bowman described Winslow as a “sexual predator … (who) preys on vulnerable victims and is very brazen in the way he carries out his crimes.” The judge ordered Winslow to register as a sex offender for life. During that sentencing, Bowman rejected arguments from defense attorneys that Winslow’s behavior could have stemmed from repeated head trauma, noting that the 2003 incident happened before Winslow’s NFL career. Winslow has unsuccessfully appealed his sentence on several occasions in the years since his imprisonment. On one occasion he sought custody credit for the time that he was out on bail but wearing a GPS monitor. Last year, representing himself, Winslow filed a petition seeking a reduced sentence on the same grounds as his newest effort. This time Winslow is represented by San Diego appellate specialist Patrick Ford. “The bulk of his claim has to do with the repetitive head injuries and all the trauma he’s taken on because of football,” Ford said Friday. Ford said it’s likely Winslow has Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, or CTE, a degenerative brain disease common among people who have suffered multiple concussions and brain injuries, including football players. CTE cannot be diagnosed until after a person dies, but Winslow’s petition argues that medical tests have shown signs consistent with traumatic brain injuries and mental health examinations have revealed symptoms that often accompany CTE. “The Legislature’s view is that people that have suffered that kind of trauma would be less culpable than people who did the same thing without suffering that trauma,” Ford said. The two state laws in question are Assembly Bill 124 and Senate Bill 567. The Assembly legislation mandates that a trial judge, absent certain aggravating circumstances, must sentence a defendant to the lowest of three potential sentences if “The person has experienced psychological, physical, or childhood trauma, including, but not limited to, abuse, neglect, exploitation, or sexual violence.” The Senate legislation requires judges to assume that the middle sentence of three potential sentences is appropriate, absent certain aggravating factors. “I believe the new laws apply to my case because of the brain damage caused by years of playing football, additional brain damage suffered in a serious motorcycle accident in 2005, and physical and sexual abuse I suffered as a child,” Winslow wrote in a sworn declaration that’s an exhibit to his petition. It’s unclear if Winslow could actually qualify for relief under the laws, which both went into effect on Jan. 1, 2022. Winslow had already been sentenced by that time, though his petition asserts the laws can be retroactively applied. Ford said the appeals court will look at Winslow’s petition and decide if the California Attorney General’s office should respond. If the appeals court does not reject the petition, the next step would be an evidentiary hearing in front of a San Diego Superior Court judge. A three-judge appellate panel would then rule on the legal issues in the case. If the appellate judges ultimately ruled that Winslow qualified for relief under the new laws, a San Diego judge would resentence him.