Jameis Winston is on the verge. Just what that might come to mean or who the reigning Heisman Trophy winner and Florida State star quarterback stands to evolve into as a result of the clear and apparent observation remains one of the biggest riddles for all seasons.
Understand there’s a distinct difference in conquering all of your opponents and playin’ oneself. And know that Jameis Winston appears to be walking that very fine line. Though he has yet to lose a game as the starting signal-caller for the NCAA defending champion and perennially top-ranked Seminoles, a growing number of NFL GMs and scouts will nonetheless tell you he can’t win over the long haul at the rate he’s advancing
Consider, in the same week, where we saw the 20-year-old prodigy heralded by his most ardent supporters as a still developing youngster who finally seems to be getting what it will take to be who he was preordained to be, word came that reps for him were actively trying to coerce a 20-year-old one-time classmate into remaining silent about their alleged direct and sinister dealings.
Whether you believe the 2013 rape accusation brought forth against Winston by his unrelenting tormentor in that since criminally disposed case or not— and mind you a state’s prosecutor’s office ultimately found they did not have sufficient grounds to move forward with the accusations— the red flag in it all is there seems to be a long wayward pattern with Jameis Winston
Since then, there’s been the “crabgate” episode to the stolen soft drink caper at a fast food restaurant to the most recent tasteless public comments he shouted that netted him the Clemson game suspension.
And all of it is now appears to be taking its toll, with Winston tumbling from being the one-time projected top overall pick in the 2015 NFL draft to former Super Bowl winning coach Tony Dungy now openly admitting he wouldn’t so much as tab him in the first round.
It’s all moved FSU coaches to try and shield Winston from himself. Coach Jimbo Fischer announced this week that his star quarterback will no longer be available for his weekly mass media sessions or private sit downs.
Try as all his handlers might, in the end all the real change for Jameis Winston can only come from within. And no amount of touchdown passes, hoisted Heismans, or even talking-head blockers entrusted with eradicating all the destruction he leaves in his wake are apt to change or remedy that.
