With controversy again swirling around Florida State quarterback and reigning Heisman Trophy winner, Jameis Winston, some have began to speculate that Winston’s collegiate career may soon be over. Whether its the upcoming code of conduct hearing at Florida State or the more than 900 autographs in authentication, Winston has become a college football villain for fans throughout the country.
While it’s hard to find a positive depiction of Winston for anything he’s done off the football field from anyone not associated with Florida State, Janet Edbrooke explained why she’s still a Jameis Winston fan.
Edbrooke isn’t a Florida State homer. She’s neither a FSU fan nor an alum. In fact, she isn’t even from the East Coast.
Edbrooke graduated from USC in 2013 before interning at ESPN.
Edbrooke worked with the Rose Bowl committee prior to and after Florida State’s 34-31 victory over Auburn for the BCS National Championship on January 6th. Edbrooke admitted that she had “media-formed prejudices” against Winston stemming from the sexual assault controversy that came to light late last season. Interacting with Winston however, changed her mind.
Here is post written Tuesday in Edbrooke’s Weebly Blog:
As a ground rule, I do not agree with “student” athletes getting preferential treatment. I do not agree with sexual assault accusations being improperly investigated. I do not agree with people who knowingly break rules – however hypocritical or unfair those rules might be.
That being said, I do have a lot of respect for Jameis Winston. Yes, he is immature and naïve – but he is also 20 YEARS OLD. Maybe the claims are true. Maybe a freshman isn’t mature enough to handle the spotlight that comes with a Heisman Trophy or a national title. Maybe he doesn’t take his responsibility as a role model as seriously as he should. But maybe, just maybe, he refuses to change who he is in response to our demands that he must simply because of the stardom that has come his way.
Yes, he is a class clown whose antics sometimes go too far. But how many other college underclassmen can be described the same way? I understand that he is not an average college underclassman; he lost that privilege when he gained the alternate privilege of playing football for a top program. And yet the part of him that refuses to change, refuses to alter his behavior to suit the demands of the pedestal others have placed him on, is the part of Jameis Winston that I love.
I love that he defies conventional rules of today’s society which make kids grow up more quickly than ever before. I love that in his media availability (which I’ve had the pleasure of witnessing firsthand) his bubbly personality is front and center, his love for the game and for life itself is evident above all else. I love that his teammates respect and look up to him, that his coach speaks so highly of his true character. I love that when backup QB Sean Maguire was thrust into the limelight due to Winston’s punishment for jokingly repeating an internet meme that the majority of college students/internet trolls were also repeating at the time (seriously!?), Maguire’s family had nothing but praise for him and the way he treated their son.
I read an opinion piece that included a remarkable quote about Jameis Winston – “His athletic and on-field leadership ability is head and shoulders above his peers; he plays football like a man among boys. However mentally off the field, he is a boy among men.” We forget that Jameis Winston (and many other athletes we admire) are truly still kids trying to find their way in the world, with a microscope on them at all times and a public ready to see them stumble. A number of the classes I took to fulfill my minor in Sports Media Studies taught me the same thing – the media and the public love to build athletes up so that we can tear them down; to prove that even these gods among men have the same mortal flaws as the rest of us. But for once, can’t we appreciate an athlete who refuses to fall prey to those tactics? Can’t we respect his ability to maintain his youth as long as possible; envying his naïve innocence that the rest of us walk away from far too soon? I know I sure do.
Carpe diem.
JanetFor what it’s worth, an interesting read: “Correcting Misconceptions on Jameis Winston”
Follow Janet Edbrooke on Twitter @JMEdbrooke
