Thursday, rumor and conjecture became reality as the NFL handed down a three-game suspension to Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston. He will not appeal.
In fact, more than that, Winston seemingly admitted he was guilty in the statement he released once the suspension was announced. Winston was accused, but not legally charged, with grabbing a female Uber driver’s crotch while they were alone in a car in March 2016.
Evidently, when you’re a star some women don’t just “let you do it.”
“First and foremost, I would like to say I’m sorry to the Uber driver for the position I put you in,” Winston said in the statement. “It is uncharacteristic of me and I genuinely apologize. In the past 2 1/2 years my life has been filled with experiences, opportunities and events that have helped me grow, mature and learn, including the fact that I have eliminated alcohol from my life.”
This is a far cry from Winston’s earlier denial he posted on Instagram back in November.
“I believe the driver was confused as to the number of passengers in the car and who was sitting next to her,” Winston wrote. “The accusation is false.”
So what happened in between November and now? Well, it turns out the other guys in the car with Winston during one of the apparently two Uber rides were his old buddy Ronald Darby and former Vanderbilt wide receiver Brandon Banks. Banks is currently sitting in prison himself, serving 15 years for rape. So, you know, that probably wasn’t a good look.
Winston will be replaced for the first three games of the season by Ryan Fitzpatrick. Fitzpatrick went 2-1 as a starter for the Bucs last season when Winston was injured.
Last week John McMullen went over Tampa Bay’s options on Winston. The former Florida State quarterback is heading into his fourth season as a pro and the Buccaneers already picked up his fifth-year option. Winston will make $20.9 million, fully guaranteed, for the 2019 season unless they cut him before next March. If Winston gets hurt this year, then Tampa is on the hook for the cash whether he’s on the team or not.
I’m not rehashing that. Instead, I’m going to talk about Winston himself and begin with the words that, for some reason, only I’ve written and put into the world concerning the oft-accused quarterback. Nobody in or around the NFL believes Winston is guilty of the rape accusation leveled at him while he was at Florida State. Not a coach, general manager or beat writer regardless of gender. None of them.
And no matter what shows up on Buzfeed, Vox or Slate about this case over the next few days, that’s not going to change. The NFL made its call on that and believes Winston’s story.
It doesn’t matter what anyone else believes outside the league while listening to their Michael Jackson music collections or watching their Woody Allen and Roman Polanski criterion Blu Rays before nominating each man for another Oscar.
Official word of Jameis Winston’s three-game suspension: pic.twitter.com/GCQYZ9I3ex
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) June 28, 2018
What they do believe now, without question, is that Winston does not have the discipline, maturity, judgement and frankly the mental stability to lead a franchise. In short, he’s dumb. Maybe not football dumb. He has all the tools and has shown on the field he can be a franchise quarterback. It’s in life that he consistently comes up short.
When Winston skated away from the rape accusation at Florida State, he had a choice. He could be a choir boy and be thankful his life didn’t immediately go down the toilet. Or he could be an idiot.
Time and time again, Winston chose to be an idiot. This was one of those times.
Did he grab this Uber driver in the crotch? Yeah. He did. He admitted it and there’s no reason to believe he’s lying there.
So the NFL determined Jameis Winston sexually assaulted an Uber driver & Jameis admitted to the sexual assault in his own statement & the NFL only gave him a three game suspension for it? Yikes.
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) June 28, 2018
No quarterback drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in their history has ever earned a second contract with the team. Unless he takes the Bucs to the Super Bowl this season, Winston will not be the first.
“I now look forward to putting this behind me,” Winston said. “And I will continue to work hard every day to be a positive influence in my community and be the best person, teammate and leader I can be.”
I’m afraid the clock has struck on that dream, Jameis.
