On Wednesday morning, the New York Times published an in-depth article on the sexual assault investigation or according to investigative journalist Walt Bogdanich, a lack thereof, concerning Florida State quarterback and eventual Heisman Trophy winner, Jameis Winston. The investigation as most know by now, stemmed from events that took place on December 7th, 2012 in which Winston was accused of sexual assault.
Bogdanich goes on to report less than favorable actions, mostly on the part of Florida State University and the local Tallahassee Police Department. While Bogdanich’s story certainly has merit, he omits some very important details. Here are three issues from the story that need to be addressed:
Keeping Players on the Field at All Costs
Bogdanich’s story ends with a quote from Adam Ruiz, a former Florida assistant state attorney. Ruiz says, “I learned quickly what football meant in the South. Clearly, it meant a lot. And with respect to this case I learned that keeping players on the field was a priority.”
During the investigation that took place over the fall, Jameis Winston apologists beat to death the notion that Winston had neither thrown a football nor a baseball at the time of the alleged incident. While that line was repeated over and over again, it’s not one that holds no water.
As Bogdanich points out, the Tallahassee Police Department has a history of incompetence. To say that it has a history of protecting Florida State football players at all costs would be untrue. The TPD instead has a long history of arresting football players and good ones at that.
Although Winston was one of the nation’s most prized recruits out of high school, his accomplishments on the field at the time, were non-existent and paled in comparison to some of the players arrested in years past. Perhaps the most notable, was Peter Warrick in 1999.
An arrest derailed Peter Warrick’s Heisman campaign in 1999. (USA Today)
A senior receiver from Bradenton, Warrick was perceived by most as the Heisman front-runner when he was arrested for receiving heavily discounted merchandise from a Tallahassee Dillard’s. Warrick served a two-game suspension in which he missed a key rivalry game with Miami. The arrest may have very well cost Warrick the Heisman Trophy.
Though Warrick missed just a pair of games, his teammate and fellow wide receiver, Laveranues Coles was also charged and kicked off the team for having prior run-ins with the law. While Coles was not as nationally acclaimed as Warrick, he was an All-ACC caliber receiver, who had bested Deion Sanders’ school-record for fastest time in the 40-yard dash.
More recently, the TPD has arrested notable Florida State stars like Preston Parker, James Wilder Jr., and Greg Reid.
Parker was arguably Florida State’s most electrifying play-maker during the 2008 season before being charged with a DUI for sleeping in a McDonald’s parking lot with the car running. Wilder on the other hand was a starting running back while Reid was an All-American caliber cornerback and one of the nation’s top punt returners.
Wilder was arrested for missing a court date, driving on a suspended license and for assault on a police officer though Wilder claimed to bump into the officer while attempting to show him an e-mail on his phone.
Reid was arrested on misdemeanor perjury charges and resisting arrest in 2011. Reid would later be dismissed from the team after being arrested on marijuana charges in his hometown of Valdosta, Georgia.
Freshman wide receiver Fred Rouse and linebacker A.J. Nicholson were each arrested for breaking into the apartment of Lorenzo Booker — a running back on the team — in 2005 and taking Booker’s property. Nicholson was a Butkus Award finalist that year while Rouse, like Winston, was a top 10 national recruit out of high school.
While none of those charges are remotely as heinous as rape, the TPD has arrested football players on rape charges. Last June, wide receiver Greg Dent was arrested on charges of sexual battery. Dent was not the standout that Winston has become, but would have seen plenty of the field in 2013 for a Florida State team that lacked depth at receiver.
As Bogdanich rightly pointed out, the Tallahassee Police Department has a history of incompetence. What it doesn’t have a history of however, is turning a blind eye when it comes to football players. Unless the department is made up of Rivals and Scout junkies, it’s tough to imagine the TPD giving Winston, a redshirt who was fourth on the depth chart at quarterback, preferential treatment.
Travis Johnson Not Mentioned by Name
Bogdanich’s story concludes with the aforementioned quote from Ruiz after a paragraph that reads, “A decade before the Winston case, the inspector general found that Florida State had violated its policy when the athletic department failed to inform the campus police of a rape accusation against one of its standout football players. Mr. Ruiz, the former prosecutor who handled the case for the state attorney’s office, recalled that the coach at the time, the revered Bobby Bowden, attempted to convince him that a crime had not occurred. A jury eventually acquitted the player.”
What Bogdanich omits is the name of that player and how he was acquitted. The player cited is former defensive tackle Travis Johnson, a standout who went on to play in the NFL for the Houston Texans and San Diego Chargers.
Travis Johnson’s acquittal in 2003 took less than 30 minutes. (Return of Kings)
Johnson was accused of raping another student-athlete at Florida State. Charges were brought by state attorney Willie Meggs — the same attorney that elected not to file charges against Winston. Although Johnson was acquitted, the story fails to mention that he was acquitted by a jury comprised of only females and within a half hour of the beginning of the trial — very important details.
The Implied Drugging
When the events at the Tallahassee bar, “Potbelly’s”, are mentioned, Bogdanich implies that Winston’s accuser was drugged. In the third paragraph under the headline, “Purgatory at Potbelly’s”, Bogdanich writes, “The woman did not appear drunk, her friends said. But after a stranger gave her a drink, she recounted, her memory became hazy and fragmented. Soon, she found herself in a taxi with three unfamiliar men, all of whom turned out to be Florida State football players.”
Whether or not Winston’s accuser was drugged or not may never be known, but the story does not mention that multiple toxicology reports were run and no traces of Rohypnol, more commonly known as the “date-rape drug”, or any other substance were found.
In the State Attorney’s report, it is noted that the accuser’s blood-alcohol level did not suggest that she was in a state where she would not be able to remember the events of the evening. The report said that one friend with her at the bar described the accuser at the end of the night as “fine”. Another said “it was not like she needed to go home”.
Those facts being omitted seems to indicate that Bogdanich is being at least somewhat disingenuous.
Wednesday’s story in the New York Times has already begun to make major headlines and with good reason. Author Walt Bogdanich reports that a second woman has come forward describing an unpleasant sexual encounter with Jameis Winston which is not described as a rape. Bogdanich also illustrates troubling flaws on behalf of both the university and police department in handling the case.
As the Title IX investigations regarding misconduct go on, all that anyone can hope for is a fair process. While Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston has become a Heisman Trophy winner, a national champion and the face of college football, his actions — whatever they were — have at the very least, put doubt into the minds of many.
Rape is a serious charge, an even more serious event and unfortunately, goes unreported all too often. Florida State University, its star quarterback and the Tallahassee Police Department should all be held responsible for whatever took place on December 7th, 2012 and for the proceeding investigation.
While Brogdanich’s story is sure to surface for the next several days, it brings forward a number of troubling events concerning Florida State University and the Tallahassee Police Department. Comprised mostly of old facts, Bogdanich’s piece is comprehensive and well-written. A story with balance that seeks to uncover the truth however, it is not.
Other Investigative Reports
Phone, Social Media Records
Report II
