The Legend of Shameless Jameis

Florida State was able to eek out a win Saturday, beating Clemson 23-17 in OT, without their Heisman winning quarterback, Jameis Winston. Redshirt sophomore Sean Maguire was at the helm as Winston served a one game suspension for what is best described as being a complete moron.

After standing up on a table in the FSU Student Union building and a vulgar, currently internet-famous phrase (NSFW!), Winston was suspended for the first half of their game against Clemson.  

Then this happened:

But Winston wouldn’t let the now full game suspension let him down!  He made sure the focus was still on him, running onto the field before the game in full pads to take warm-ups. Coach Jimbo Fisher was not pleased, sending Winston back to the locker room to change.  Fisher would later describe the incident as a mistake on the equipment workers’ part.  Yeah…sure.

This latest episode isn’t the only notable trouble Winston has gotten into during his time at Florida State.  FoxSports.com compiled a complete timeline of Winston’s incidents, including the alleged sexual assault in December of 2012.  Each incident concluded without any serious punishment being administered.   

It’s pretty clear that Jameis Winston thinks he’s above the rules and the law.  Still, it’s impossible to ignore the role his university and the justice system in general have played in providing him with this sense of entitlement.  If you were reminded time after time that your standing as the university’s star quarterback would guarantee leniency on the part of the administration and the law, wouldn’t you feel the same sense of entitlement?  Except Winston really can’t use this as an excuse, seeing as so many other college athletes in similar positions handle themselves much more responsibly.  

You would think that someone in such a prominent position on campus and in the college football landscape would realize no good could possibly come from screaming such a vulgar, sexual phrase from atop a table in the student union.  And yet, Winston continues to try his best to ruin an opportunity that other players across the nation would kill for.

It’s obvious he doesn’t think of the consequences of his actions because the consequences themselves are so few and insignificant.  He is living within a culture that values what he does on the football field far more than what he does away from it.  “Don’t worry about the damages, the crab legs or the sexual assault Jameis, just get out there, win games and continue to make us money!”

And then people wonder why so many NFL players feel as though they can drive drunk, beat their wives, kill people, etc. and still get paid millions of dollars to play a game.