On the football field, Florida State quarterback and 2013 Heisman Trophy winner Jameis Winston is rarely associated with making bad decisions. Off the field however, has become a different story.
As most are aware of by now, the Florida State quarterback and baseball star received a citation on Wednesday for walking out of a Tallahassee Publix without paying for $32 worth of seafood. Winston claimed that he simply forgot and whether that’s true or not, the reputation of the Seminoles’ star signal-caller is rapidly changing for the worst.
During the first half of this past football season, Winston had become a revered figure throughout college football. An athletic 6’4″ quarterback that was a seemingly born leader with a charismatic personality, Winston was the talk around the country for all the right reasons.
Since the story of sexual assault allegations against Winston broke last October, the soon-to-be sophomore quarterback has been fighting an uphill battle to restore his reputation. Wednesday’s incident was the fourth run-in for Winston with law enforcement in two years.
Over the last six months, the personality of a 20-year-old once thought to be a humble kid with a loveable persona and a plethora of God-given talent, has come into question. Considering that New York Times’ investigative journalist Walt Bogdanich published a comprehensive, agenda-driven piece that stole national headlines just two weeks ago, the time for Winston to stay out of the spotlight should be now.
Prior to the start of the 2013 season, Winston jokingly advocated media members to slap him if he came down with, “Johnny Manziel Disease”. If that’s the case, it may be time to slap Jameis Winston.
Manziel, the 2012 Heisman Trophy winning quarterback from Texas A&M, was also involved in questionable off-the-field antics prior to the start of last season. Manziel was kicked out of a University of Texas frat party, sent home from the Manning quarterback camp and investigated by the NCAA for possibly taking money in exchange for signing autographs.
Over the last year, Manziel has been relatively successful in restoring his reputation. Like Winston, Manziel also won the Heisman as a freshman and has a similar competitive nature. Whether Winston is as successful when it comes to damage control remains to be seen.
After Winston was not charged with sexual assault last December, his attorney Tim Jansen stated how important Winston’s reputation was to the two-sport star. The latest incident is hardly a step in the right direction for Winston as far as image reparation is concerned.
While events like shooting out windows with BB guns, drinking unpaid-for soda from ketchup cups at restaurants and walking out of Publix with crab legs seem adolescent and petty in nature, they are cited as examples of character flaws from the Bogdanich’s and Adam Weinstein’s of the world that seek to pounce on any opportunity to portray the FSU football program as an inmate-run asylum. Whether people like it or not, these stories do go a long way in swaying the court of public opinion and it won’t be long before the “see, see!” articles and columns begin to surface.
Winston’s punishment is relatively minor — as was the crime. Winston will be forced to serve a suspension from the Florida State baseball program as well as complete 20 hours of community service.
Whether Wednesday’s stolen crab escapade was an honest mistake or not, Winston’s thorough knowledge of the Florida State offense and 3.0 grade-point-average in the classroom indicate that he is far too smart to make such a foolish gaffe.
After leading Florida State to a school-record 14 wins a season ago and winning the Heisman Trophy, Winston has become one of the bigger stars in all of sports. With his enhanced stardom comes added responsibility and a much bigger public microscope. If Winston’s reputation is as important to him as his attorney claims, his run of bad decisions needs to be nipped in the bud immediately.
While three of the four incidents involving Winston and police have been minor, they will be used by some to re-stoke the rape allegation fire. With key football seniors from last season’s BCS title team gone, Winston will be forced to take on an even bigger leadership role on the field in 2014. Though the only harm thus far from Winston’s mistakes off the field have been to his reputation, continuing to make them could eventually become distractions big enough to hurt his team as well.
The good news for Winston is that there is plenty of time left to restore his image. Major sports figures like Manziel, LeBron James and Josh Hamilton have all underwent major reputation makeovers. While the media will have its role, the person most in charge of restoring Jameis Winston’s image however, will be Jameis Winston.
