Winston is one busy QB. Not only does he have an hearing in front of a former judge as part of FSU internal investigation in his alleged sexual assault , the sophomore QB is now being investigated for the authenticity of more than 340 autograph signings. Knowing how FSU played without him in the lineup, I doubt anything will come out of those investigations.
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Criminoles at work...
Its amusing to see Winston being allowed to get away with all these individual acts that are getting players suspended at various other schools while FSU turns a blind eye to the whole thing. Just shows what kind of integrity FSU has, and also shows their confidence in being a good school should they lose him for a game here or there.
I will say this, if I'm an NFL exec right now I steer as clear of this kid as I can. With the feeding frenzy surrounding the NFL right now with regards to off the field issues the last thing a team needs is to bring in a ticking time bomb like Winston.
Sounds like you're assuming teams wouldn't draft him for the "betterment of the league". Many GMs looking for a QB in 2015 are probably thinking along the lines of Johnny Manziel. He might be a ticking time bomb, but if he slips to round 2 or 3 he'll get snatched up in a heart beat no questions asked.
Over the weekend Jay Glazer was reporting that the NFL has passed new procedures that now will sanction teams that employ players with off the field issues. These sanctions could include financial penalties and/or loss of draft picks.
Glazer: Jameis Winston falling on many NFL draft boards
If there is one guy who knows what he's talking about when it comes to the NFL and reporting it with absolutely no bias, its Glazer.
So at the end of the day, NFL Execs are going to have to ask themselves if its worth it to draft Winston knowing when (not if at this point... when) he screws up, you're going to lose a draft pick on top of potentially having your starting QB sitting out for stuff he did off the field. And if you're not drafting him to be the starter, is it worth drafting a backup QB that will cost you draft picks down the line when he inevitably screws up?
Wow, that's fascinating, thanks for posting!
(Yes, I know Mussolini was an evil dictator, but this .gif is funny.)
Well I'm glad that's the case. I'm definitely in agreement with those who think this sort of behavior shouldn't be tolerated in the NFL, and I'm sure he'll pay his dues.
The one position that NFL execs understand they NEED on the field is the star QB. It really doesn't make sense to lay the franchise on the shoulders of someone who makes such consistently bad decisions as Winston. He's emotionally JaMarcus Russell in a different body.
At FSU it' s all about winning at any cost , as long as they continue to win they will coddle $ protect this criminal. It's amazing and mind boggling that the administration , officials & coaches cannot see the damage and harm they are doing to the university by protecting & covering up his acts. They have all lost what little respect they had for winning a NC . Thank GOD I am not a FSU alumni!
Winning is everything , all else be damned ( a good motto for a university)
Blandus in omnia, et in omnibus aliis damnari
(Or something like that...been a long time)
If I am an NFL exec/scout, I am steering clear of Winston because he does not have NFL level skills as a QB. Once he starts completely missing the field in combine drills and goes through a few interviews his stock will drop even more. That is without even taking into account all of the off-field issues.
Jimbo Fisher is fantastic at getting QBs drafted by surrounding them with NFL-ready lineman, running backs, and receivers that get wide open and can catch anything that comes near them. He is also pretty terrible at actually teaching important QB skills like accuracy and decision making, let alone teaching any viable life lessons or trying do develop maturity. Look at the murderer's row of ProBowl QBs he has gotten drafted (sarc). No GM wants to be the newest sucker to draft the next Jamarcus Russell, Christian Ponder, or EJ Manuel. Eventually, Fisher's track record will catch up to him. Winston's complete lack of discipline on and off the field are huge red flags that scream first-round bust. I have said it before, and swvadon says it in this thread, Jameis Winston is Jamarcus Russell version 2.0. Jimbo's "coaching" is the common thread.
Unfortunately, I don't find it amusing. I think he is a slimy character and the entire FSU administration, police department and coaching staff have enabled him to get away with whatever he wants and in fact, have covered up for him. Its a disgrace. I hope he gets suspended and kicked out of school.
I wouldn't touch him with a 10 foot pole if I were an NFL team.
I don't think he survives this week untouched...I just have a feeling. (or at least I hope)
I think they are trying to get past the Notre Dame game with him and then something might happen after.
Its amazing they don't have enough confidence as a program to do the right thing and to believe they can win without him.
I have lost any and all respect I may have had for the Seminoles....Jimbo Fisher is a phony and an enabler....
The worst part is, everyone knows FSU is cheating, and they're doing a really poor job of trying to cover it up, as the media is just swarming them right now. The problem is that the NCAA is too spineless to do anything about it, just like they were with UNC and Miami.
Just goes to show, cheating pays. In this world of collegiate athletics, if you're not cheating, you're not trying... and thats just sad.
In this world of collegiate athletics, if you're not cheating, you're not trying...
Unless your last name is Beamer, who has run a spotless program up to this point
And he has 0 national titles to show for it.
The cheaters on the other hand? Well, you have FSU with their well documented issues, Alabama and their supposed issues with $100 handshakes (which essentially goes for the whole SEC), Miami and everything they did to win their 5 titles... And the worst punishment for it all? We're still waiting on the first punishment to be handed down.
I'm not saying that I want Beamer to cheat, but its a fallacy to say he's had us playing at that same level of success as the cheaters attain when we have only ever played for one national title, and lost, and that was 15 years ago. In fact, I'll go so far as to say that collegiate athletics, and especially football, has gotten to the point where you must cheat to reach the pinnacle, because too many programs are doing it and gaining such an advantage that the rest are being left in the dust.
I will pass on winning a national title , if we have to cheat to win one. There are still some schools left with integrity.
To play devil's advocate...
Do the rules really exist if there is no deterrent to breaking them? If one school plays by the book and does everything squeaky clean, and the other rampantly cheats and all but openly ridicules and mocks the rules that are on file, while the governing body stands idly by doing absolutely nothing to tell them that what they are doing is wrong, are the rules worth more than the paper on which they're written?
And lastly, the whole "there are still some schools left with integrity" thing... it comes off as extremely Hoo-ish. We long ridiculed them for bringing their academics or superior standards into the argument when they try to explain why they can't beat us, and time and time again, I see our own fans resort to the exact same argument when we try to explain why we can't beat others. It is a very arrogant thing to say, and comes across as just reads as some of the most nauseating looking down your nose at someone that we have mocked others for doing and we shouldn't stoop to it ourselves.
Hoo-ish?
Not a chance. But thanks for insulting someone for taking a moral stand.
Note something about cheating, it neither guarantees a NC nor improves one' slot in life.
Did cheating get UNC a national championship or an improved stature among universities?
Nope, I'd much prefer to not cheat.
In football? No.... In basketball? If you're willing to believe all the implications about how deep their academic fraud went, yes.
Did not work in football so, let's pretend they were good enough at it to get a basketball NC based on or assisted by cheating.
Football program did not come close.
Damaged reputation as a University.
We proved my point. Even a high level of skill at effective cheating doesn't guarantee crapola.
Don't do it.
If you want to nitpick, the cheating at UNC took them from a program that was struggling to win 1 game a year to a program that was legitimately vying for the division title. Lets not pretend it didn't help them out at all.
That's not enough.
The cost is too high.
Hasn't only cost (for UNC) been their integrity? Did I miss a sanction from the academic scandal? The NCAA has time and time again proven that the cost of cheating is much lower than the glory of the rewards, through an embarrassing mix of incompetence and corruption. For every vacated championship, there are hundreds of unpunished and unproven accusations about Alabama and FSU and other powerhouses
That's correct, Integrity has been their highest cost.
I do like the value you're putting on ethics and integrity, as a pseudo-corporate entity and place of learning, UNC should hold themselves to a standard. sorry I got kinda argumentative with you here & below
There is nothing wrong with a discussion amoung adults to further communication and exchange valid points of view.
There's a difference between spirited and heated. I never saw any smoke, therefore no heat.
Everyone knows what needs to happen to level the playing field in college athletics . The NCAA needs to fairly , swiftly & severely punish rule breakers . Everyone also knows this is not going to happen , since NCAA is more corrupt than some of the schools they represent .
In defense of the NCAA (I feel like I should be severely beaten for typing those 5 words) they do not have the power to subpoena witnesses/suspects or search/seize evidence. I think people (myself included) expect them to send out punishments like a District Attorney, even though they do not have the power to investigate that way.
Additionally, it would be completely unfair to punish a student athlete without evidence, but yet, every time a rumor about Player X being given $500 for autographs, we automatically assume he did it, not that it was some rival fan starting a rumor.
If the NCAA can't prove anything without doubt, what are they to do?
YES , I still believe everyone in society should play play buy the rules and follow the law ( universities. Included) . If that is acting morally superior, so be it. NO Apoligies! Statements such as "others ar
Glitches. Glitches
YES , I still believe everyone in society should abide the law & follow the rules [ universities included ] If that is acting arrogant or morally superior. SO BE IT. No apologies. Statements such as" others are winning because they cheat " or "we don't win because we don't cheat" , sound more like what has been coming out of Charlottesville and are more repugnant than anything I have said. Thankfully, their are some schools that still attempt to play by the rules & have some. INTEGRITY left . Incidentally , as much as I dislike uva , they may be one of them.
We should look down upon those who cheat and we shouldn't stoop to it ourselves. They are not models by which programs should strive to emulate. They are scars in the history of the sport, no matter what sport it is. Cheating proves you are incapable of achieving success through hard work and effort. Cheating proves you have no faith in yourself or your teammates and that you need to get an edge in order to be better. If anything, cheating proves you're weak. Think what you want, but I'll wait until we've earned our spot on the top rather than cheat our way there much sooner.
I believe you have stated Frank Beamer's philosophy.
Like he said on All Access VT show on ESPN: "Two words we use a lot around here are Caring and Family...".
If you follow those, the above automatically happens and keeps you off of the lost integrity slippery slope.
Whomever replaces him better keep this as a prime tenant for the future of VT football IMHO.
What does it say above the door to Mike Gentry's Strength and Conditioning area:
That applies to coaches as well as players. Period,
The only disagreement on your comments is this - F$U has been consistent in protecting Winston the same way they have consistently protected all of the many previous players they've had who got into trouble. F$U has coddled and enabled their players for at least three decades now. This isn't anything new. Bobby Bowden was probably the worst in college football to do so before Jimbo, and he did that for decades and it was well publicized for decades. F$U is doing what they've always done - put football first above & beyond all else. This isn't new.
Ask Laveranues Coles about that. If they have what they see as a better weapon, they'll let someone fall on the knife.
Side note-I had to look up how to spell his name and had no idea it was that close to ending with "anus." Now we know, and knowing is half the battle.
"I think they are trying to get past Notre Dame". Certainly looks like it. I dislike Notre Dame as much or more than some, but I would like to see them stomp a mud hole in FSU & Winston's butt .
The guy is going to have a minor in criminal justice by the time he leaves school after defending himself against all of these allegations. He just doesn't get it; it being abiding by the rules.
"If I ever get Manziel disease, I want all of you to smack me in the head with your microphones," Winston responded.
Close enough:
Mike and Mike is reporting Winston signed +- 950 items! Golic states a lot of the items are in sequence and Winston would have set down at a private signing and signed them. Jimbo seems to be backing Winston 100%. I hope this leads to FSU being put back on sanctions. They also said there is talk that the best thing for Winston to do is drop out of school and not face the title 9 investigation and the fallout of a sign for money scam. Winston would probably end up in the NFL anyway and not risk any legal issues as a result of information released during the title 9. I don't think he is smart enough to know the risks and I know FSU will not advise him to drop out even if it looks like he might face legal consequences. FSU will only worry about their ticket/product sales!!
Those are serious allegations. This guy never learned that he is an easy target. But with FSU and the Tallahassee PD supporting him, Winston is going to beat the case.
Winston can sign as much stuff as he wants, he just cannot be paid to do so. Tech hosted a fan appreciation day I am sure about every player on our team signed 1000 items/posters.
Yeah, I was just going to go there on this.
I have a poster signed by the bulk of this year's team.
I also have a football signed by the bulk of the team of Hosely's last year.
Teams have fan days where bunches of these types of items get signed.
Recognize too that when the authentication service says they have authenticated 450 signatures, they're not all for sale. A bunch of them will be collectors just getting the authentication done and these guys probably sought out a bunch of them so they have a basis for them to work from to be able to ID real signatures with.
How many items do you think he's signed in the couple years playing at FSU AND in NY for the Heisman stuff?
The issue is not that he signed things and it's not how many he signed. I believe there is an issue of some sort when something is signed by an amateur athlete or even a NCAA coach and is then sold on the secondary market. I don't know what the punishment is, but the reason I say there is an issue is because there was a time when I had Beamer sign a football and Greenberg sign a basketball for a charity raffle drawing. When I asked for Beamer's signature, his secretary, who is the nicest lady ever, mentioned that whoever won the prize needs to know they are not to sell it. I don't know the implications, but I just know that was what I was told. Regardless, the issue with this comes when you have 900 items that are brought in for authentication at one time. No one person is going to carry 900 items with them to be signed after a game or to a fan day because the athlete doesn't have the time to sign everything then. But if the person has the athlete sit down for 30 minutes to sign all of them, questions arise regarding whether the person compensated the athlete for his time knowing that the person receiving the signed items was going to likely receive a substantial amount of money for them. Suspecting that multiple collectors are going to submit at the same time that would add up to the number of sequential items they found is grasping at straws.
This would be easy to do and happens all the time at concerts. (Hire a bunch of kids to stand in line to get the best tickets, in the days before online concert ticket sales.)
Pay a bunch of kids a relatively small amount of money to go to various fan events and get specific autographs.
Turn them in for authentication because, why would you send them in small batches over a period of months.
I need to see some proof Winston got paid before i convict him.
I'm not convicting him, but I'm saying it draws attention. If you want to make money, why would you prolong your ability to make profits by waiting to submit a bunch for authentication at once when you could send them earlier and start selling earlier?
There are quite a few economic and process advantages to batch processing, especially if the asset is expected to increase in value, what's the rush?
The difference is all of Winston's items ended up a one place being Authenticated. Golic said most stars sign lots of items all over the place but when a large group of items show up in one spot ie a sports memorabilia store its hard to say they where collected from +- 950 different places/fans. And you are right its not breaking the rules unless it is proven he took money for his autograph.
That's the rub, all kinds of college athletes have been investigated but few found 'guilty.' Cash exchanges hands and there's no breadcrumb trail. Only reason Gurley was discovered is that he double crossed his 'partner.'
His "partner" who happens to be a Gator fan...and claims Gurley was doing the same racket with 30 other people.
Which brings a couple of questions to mind. If you are the NCAA why don't you have vice grips on these guys that are using these kids for gain. (And most likely, assumedly, paying for large sums which is against the rules.) I understand the kids are involved and need to abide by the rules too, but given history and lack of punishment for Bush, $cam, Manziel why not risk it?
And, if I'm a school compliance director I'm in that memorabilia shop looking to see if there are say of my players stuff in there. You KNOW these are not the only two players that did this.
I kind of feel bad for the kid, he is making one stupid decision after another and by protecting the football program fsu is not helping him, only making it worse for him once he has left the university which they obviously do not care about because then he is someone elses problem. Unfortunately I think this is a bigger reflection on society, we coddle kids nowadys, can't say "no", can't spank them, etc. I know when I screwed up as a kid (and still sometimes as a middle aged adult) it was a matter of whether Mom, Dad or both put me back in my place...
my (step)father would come home and break off a tree branch in the front yard on occasion before entering the house. My brother and I learned quickly that we can't make the house a mess or be going batshit crazy. he never used the branch but after he told us that he would do it, we would always watch out the front window to see if he did. He did about twice a month for about a year. We were very well behaved after that.
Are you 4 years old and your last name is Peterson?
No, that's the way many of us were disciplined.
For me, it was a belt, not a switch or branch.
is your dad suspended from the NFL?
I don't know about his Dad but, mines still eligible.
Meh, I don't think it has to do with coddling our young ones. I think the societal issue is that these athletes are being given responsibility they're not ready/prepared to handle, and when they do fail, there is no one to take responsibility. The school pleads ignorance, and the kid is in over his head to begin with, so the kid gets screwed out of an education. Many student/athletes with ambitions of going pro don't understand the value of this education to begin with - which is why they're willing to risk a scholarship for less than four figures.
I hate to admit it because I think it's unfair, but these kids (yes, these the majority of these student-athletes are kids, far from adults) have a 'job' to be a role model. It's not something they signed up for, but because the media and fans care so much, these players are put on a pedestal. Players of this status have been gifted/excused their whole life. The problem is not 'coddling', it's selfish organizations who want to milk their players for all they can instead of teaching them life lessons.
"The problem is not 'coddling', it's selfish organizations who want to milk their players for all they can instead of teaching them life lessons."
When I was his age, I was given a couple of weapon systems and millions of dollars of expensive delicate gear to oversee and maintain and fire - and a dozen other kids to oversee.
His responsibilities don't amount to crap. He might have more responsibility than he can handle but it's not because the responsibilities are too much.
This^
There are a lot of high profile players. Almost none, ever have had a list of transgressions this long.
The kid still has a middle school level of maturity, but he's been enabled all along the way. Jimbo should take a page out of the Gary Pinkel book and ship this kid out of the program.
I hate to say it, but papa Bowden used to cut kids off quickly, sometimes. Sometimes. Randy Moss comes to mind as one...
(In no way am I saying that he ran a clean program, simply comparing old regime to new.)
You mean like Peter Warrick? Bobby never ran off his stars until they had piled up lots of negatives. Reserves, maybe, but not any player that helped the team a lot. Bobby was absolutely not more strict than Fisher. He was extremely lenient, and it was a running joke among the media.
didn't say everyone. and never said he ran a completely clean program. I know he was lenient...but it seems the leashes are getting longer.
The leashes aren't getting any longer, not by any measure. The only difference is that Bobby Bowden coddled so many of his stars and enabled his players to act as though they were untouchable that the list of miscreants under him was quite long. So long that we tend to forget about many of them. Jimbo Fisher is no more unethical than Bobby Bowden. The only difference is that Jimbo doesn't tell folksy stories that make reporters swoon the way ole Bobby did. That is the only difference.
I'd wager that this is false. I'm sure plenty of players have a rep like this. They just didn't play in the era of twitter and camera phones. Just look at Jerry Angelo's recent comments.
Thank you for your service, and no disrespect intended, but that's completely different and not remotely comparable.
Whether we like it or not, Jamies Winston is the public face of an athletic department that grossed $91,382,441 last year (#Sources). Being in the public eye carries a completely different set of responsibilities than being in the military - not more or less responsibilities, just different.
Finally, I would add that you were trained to successfully carry out your orders and responsibilities. Jamies was essentially trained to fail.
I think Coach Fisher might have issues about who is the face of the Athletic department at FSU as well as Coach Hamilton, several other coaches and Stan Wilcox.
Winston is just a athlete responsible to throw a football, hand it to another athlete and pass play calls out to teammates. His other responsibility is to not get arrested.
He can't handle the second part. Any pressure brought is pressure he's placed on himself.
He's the face of nothing except Jameis Winston.
Unfortunately (for whom, I'm not sure) Jameis has been made a face of college football by ESPN and others, which can happen when you win all your games, a heisman, and a national championship
Gotta agree to disagree with you there.
I don't think he's even the face of the football team, let alone the whole of FSU or their sports program.
I think Coach is the face of the football team and Winston is just seen as a snotty nosed kid with some shiny stuff.
We may be arguing different points. I could see that being the case internally, but I think my point was more accurate on a national, casual fan scale. I can absolutely believe that there are more mature leaders on that team that look down on Winston, and put their trust in Fisher instead (I know I kinda put words in your mouth there, but I was trying to extend the point. Correct me if I went off your track!)
I know whence you came.
However, I think FSU is strongly considering pushing him out the door to the NFL and if he was the true face of the program, you wouldn't be doing that.
I don't know. Winston is a legitimate super star from a marketing/awards perspective, like many athletes before him. Johnny Manziel was absolutely the face of A&M, and they didn't seem too upset to see him walk. The external face of a team is all marketing, with a dash of politicking. Who was the face of Alabama's recent dynasty? Nick Saban, because they never tried to make McCaaron a star and the running backs (smartly) didn't stick around. I still think Jameis is the external face of this FSU team (again, he has the hardware). If they're forcing him out, it's only because they don't want him to "live long enough to become the villain"
Well, the media/public seems to feel otherwise.
Twitter:
Winston has 161k followers
Leonard Hamilton has 6.5k
Jimbo Fisher has 6.1k
ESPN:
"Jameis Winston" yields 2489 hits
"Jimbo Fisher" yields 1895 hits
"Leonard Hamilton" yields 146 hits
Google:
"Jameis Winston" yields 7,260,000 hits
"Jimbo Fisher" yields 657,000 hits
"Leonard Hamilton" yields 380,000 hits
Winston gets more attention from the public day in and day out than any other active FSU student or employee. Jimbo Fisher has made Winston the face of the athletic department and he is using it to his (the football team's) benefit. He is painting an image of stardom and celebrity for recruits. He could prevent Winston from doing interviews, he could bench Winston, he could kick him off the team (he could've suspended a freshman who was yet to see the field for sexual assault); but instead of disciplining Winston and being a mentor to a kid who clearly needs it, he is condoning Winston's activity and using it to his advantage.
I am by no means suggesting that this isn't Winston's fault, or what Winston is doing is ok, I'm just saying that FSU Football has turned a kid who is not ready for fame into a celebrity. Per my previous comment - FSU isn't 'coddling' Jameis, they're using him.
EDIT:
Just saw your convo with VTrumpet - I agree in large part with both of you, all I'm saying is:
Wholeheartedly agree with your 3 major points there except, I'm not sure it's the case where FSU is not trying to correct it, I just think they are trying to chase 2 rabbits, correcting/helping Winston and win the NC.
i dont feel sorry for him at all. considering earlier this year he dad came out and said someone from fsu should be with him 24/7 even his family is supporting the entitlement that winston has. hes an adult (young i know) and makes his own decisions. youre right fsu is not helping him and helping him would be kicking him out of school or off the team.
im not a cam newton fan and in fact cant stand him. but he was essentially kicked out of florida after stealing a laptop, went to junior college then came back to auburn. he hasnt really been in trouble sense. maybe if that happened to winston itd help him
Anybody else wondering if the review committee overseeing his case expels him one week after the end of bowl season? Let's see the alleged rape issue, bb gun hunting on campus, shouting in the cafeteria, stealing crabs, and now signing and selling merchandise. He is eligible for the draft following this season. I think FSU will be done with him after the season if for no other reason to get out of the spotlight.
As much as I don't like Winston, I am not pinning anything on him yet. Yes he has had many issues in the recent past, but until I see document as money transfers or pictures of him accepting money for signatures, he just isnt guilty of anything. Should he play? Thats a tough question, because if he plays and they later find him guilty, then F$U is in some deep shit.
In regards to he draft stock, look, the dude has talent, there's no denying that. He is first round talent, and imo there are NFL organizations that would take the risk of potentially losing draft picks, him being suspended, etc to get him in the first round as their franchise QB. Its funny someone compared him to JaMarcus because I could totally see the Raiders trying to nab him.
You mean other than the crab leg theft and the bb gun incident? I would really hate for the ACC to have to forfeit a BCS championship trophy, etc. because he can't think before he acts.
When I said not guilty of anything, I meant in regards to the autographs for money thing.
That not skrong...
The autographs are authenticated using a painstaking technique matching the lettering characteristics of the pieces in question to known examples of his signature. They look at such things as the lean direction of letters and whether letters that were written with a different pressure or flourish are consistent across all the pieces.
Most important of all, they look for the presence of garlic butter.
Good point...the butter stains all over the mini-helmets was all the proof they needed...
Game over.
On the bottom of the sooks he also wrote one of his favorite sayings.
Which one?
"Gimme the ball, Roscoe."?
I don't care how many NCAA Championships FSU won, I would rather play for coach Beamer who guides student athletes in the right direction. When they messed up, they are in the doghouse until they get their issues together and work their way back with the team.
Frank Beamer, he'll get after ya...to be a better man.
Agree 100%.
I've said this before and I'll say it again: passing judgement without evidence on Jameis is wrong. The public has decided that he's guilty of sexual assault, do none of you remember the Duke lacrosse case or Brian Banks? Jameis is no saint, but I haven't seen any evidence that definitively shows his guilt of sexual assault. Same with the autographs, investigation does not mean guilty. Let the process play out first.
If it was only once this happened, yeah I'd buy that and would say to give him the benefit of the doubt.
But this isn't his first time he's run afoul. From the top of my head, he's been implicated in the following:
Guilty or not, this kid hasn't a clue in the world about how to avoid situations where he could get in trouble. You'd think he would have learned by now, but as time goes, he's just showing he doesn't get it, has never gotten it, nor is it becoming obvious he will ever get it. He's a train wreck in waiting for whatever NFL team decides to take a chance on him. Its not a matter of if Jameis is going to get himself into trouble once he turns pro, its a case of when.
I mean put it this way. FSU is known for covering up the transgressions of their football players. They've been doing it for decades at this point. These are only the things we KNOW Winston has been implicated in doing. It makes you wonder just how much he really is potentially getting away with down there.
Like I said, Jameis is no saint. Hell, let's just call him what he is, he's a really dumb person. But making assumptions on something that can ruin someone's life is too far. Maybe he was guilty, I have no clue. But the point is ruining someone's life over something that we don't really have any proof on is not a good precedent to set.
if I remember correctly, jameis did apologize for taking the crab leg and for using foul language on campus and suspended for it. at this point I look at Winston as guilty until proven innocent.
Jameis never learns. He trots out some rehearsed apology that is not credible, repeats the lines about "learning from this," "growing as a man," "apologize to my teammates," etc. and then proceeds to do something else that's stupid. One of the worst remarks I've heard from him was in an interview with Herbstreit about the crab leg incident. Jameis called the theft "an honest mistake." How on earth is purposefully stealing an honest mistake? An honest mistake is going through the self-checkout when the store is packed and forgetting to pay the bag fee after you've already paid because you're in a hurry and everyone in line is impatient. That's an honest mistake. There's nothing honest about what he did. And Herbie just sat there and ate it up, grinning and nodding his head. There are some days I wish Tim Russert were alive and doing interviews with sports figures. That man knew how to grill people.
Yup, this. This is why I specifically highlighted his explanation of "I forgot to pay". Its an absurd premise (how does one forget to pay at a grocery store? You have to walk past the checkout counter in order to leave. These stores have specifically designed their layout so that you must pass through the checkout counters to leave. So to say you forgot to pay is absolute BS in the most absurd variety, yet people just ate it up) and he deserved to be raked over the coals for it. Unfortunately, ESPN is so spineless nowadays with protecting their assets (Winston drives ratings) that they didn't even think to call him out on it, and all it did was reinforce that this kid can do whatever he wants, and those in charge are too spineless and powerless to do anything about it.
And I agree, we need guys who will grill sports figures, but unfortunately, we're long since the days where this can happen. We're in a culture where the sports media is in bed with the sources they're supposed to be covering with journalistic integrity. ESPN essentially owns the NBA, they own NCAA athletics, and they own the NFL with their massive deals. This allows them to drive the public perception of these entities, entities where they have an incentive to make them look as good as possible in order to get more return on their investment by keeping people watching. There is no room for critical thinking anymore when it comes to this network, which is why you see guys like Bill Simmons getting longer than Ray Rice suspensions for having the audacity to criticize Roger Goodell, and why you see their award winning Outside the Lines shoved to the worst timeslot available on Sunday mornings, directly competing with their NFL programming.
Totally agree with you.
I notice you mentioned Tim Russert. RIP Tim...I worked for Tim at NBC and was there in the building when he passed away. It was never the same there at NBC after he died. The heart was sucked out of the building :(
He really was a genuine guy and a down to earth man of the people...
Tim wouldn't have believed Jameis' BS about all this...
Tim was a Boston College fan, as his son attended BC.
I actually used to argue about VT vs. BC with him.
Russert heckled me after the 2007 Matt Ryan heartbreaker game when he threw 2 touchdowns in the last minute during the regular season matchup.
The next morning, he came up to me and said "You have to play 60 minutes, not 58!"
I told him we would meet again in the ACC championship....and i was right, we did....and the Hokies redeemed themselves with a 30-16 victory that time. That was December 1st, 2007
Tim would die almost exactly 6 months later in June 0f 2008.
Sorry if I diverted the topic, but when I saw your mention of Russert, I had to share my experience with him.
The fact that he mocked me about the Matt Ryan comeback makes it a personal Hokie experience with the man and I felt compelled to share this with the community.
Great story, thanks for sharing. I always appreciated the work of guys like Tim (although I really don't know if there truly was anyone like him). Ask hard questions, demand answers. It's a good approach to just about anything.
What is a Bag Fee?
Here in Maryland (and apparently in many other states, lately) stores charge 5 cents for each plastic bag that you use. If you bring reusable bags from home, you get a 5-cent credit on your bill for each bag. When doing the self-checkout, you have to push a button on the touchscreen to either pay for your bag or redeem your credit. It's totally on the honor system, though, as there are no attendants watching in most places.
I've only seen that in places in DC and Aldi. Most stores in VA only give you a discount for bringing reusable bags (5 cents is the norm) but don't charge you for using theirs.
Right, it's an actual law here in MD, or at least in Montgomery County. All stores do it.
Living in VA, but occasionally working up in Montgomery County, it took me a while to figure out why my Subway always seemed to cost a little more...then this was explained to me.
Alabama Dictionary Definition:
Bag Fee: A normal part of the recruiting process, where a booster drops off a bag of money in a secret location for the prospective recruit to pickup for his consideration of Alabama as his school of choice.
But if the recruit is from Bammer, and the location is secret, how are they to find it?
Theft, vandalizing with BB gun , shouting obscenities directed toward females,( after being accused of rape) . All admitted by Winston is not passing judgement on him or FSU . These actions aside, rape accusation & autograph for pay , should have resulted in dismissal from any university with any shred of integrity. Enough is Enuff
Couldn't agree more....a STATE UNIVERSITY with ANY integrity, would have gotten rid of this slime by now.
I'll be interested to see what comes of the hearing...and if the schools will be deemed to have mishandled things at all. If you listen to the doomsdayers (from College Game Day this past weekend) the school itself could potentially lose Federal funding.
It's a rape accusation. How many people were calling for the Duke lacrosse players to be thrown in jail as soon as they heard the accusation?
The part that I hate most is that the Tally PD botched the investigation in every way possible. Even if Jameis is innocent, the fact that the prosecutor basically said, "we simply can't ever know" is frustrating. Of course, in the eyes of the law, he is innocent. That much is true. But the fact that there was never any reasonable amount of investigation, likely due to the fact that the investigating officer was an FSU booster, is infuriating for anyone who appreciates unbiased investigations in search of the truth.
I read all the articles from the NY Times and Fox Sports...I have to say I fully agree with you VTGuitarMan.
It is appalling how the Tallahassee PD, the FSU PD, and the FSU Administration rigged this investigation to fail.
Total cover up.
I haven't read anything about the investigation or read through this topic, but I can tell you that I am sick of hearing about Jameis Winston. I'd love for us to get to the ACCCG and beat FSU this year, just to shut people up about FSU and Winston's Crab Legs.
I will say this, whenever Jameis is no longer associated with F$U, and able to do commercials, imagine the Heisman House spots with Johnny Clipboard! Those could be the best or worst eva.
Say what you will about Johnny Clipboard and his rolled up 20s, from the ads I've seen the guy has the personality to be successful in the marketing game.