Jameis Winston Took One For the Team?

Mar 31, 2015; Tallahassee, FL, USA; Florida State Seminoles quarterback Jameis Winston greets a young fan after FSU Football Pro Day at the Albert J. Dunlap Athletic Training Facility. Mandatory Credit: Phil Sears-USA TODAY Sports

Leading up to the draft, if you are a prospect with any kind of incidents off the field, you are asked about. And Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston, who many believe will be No. 1 pick in the draft, is no different. So among other things, Winston was asked about the shoplifting citation he ended up with last April for taking crab legs from a Tallahassee grocery store.

At the time, he told deputies he had forgotten to pay, ended up paying for the crab legs and got 20 hours of community service with it. All the perceived conclusions were drawn from the incident and Winston is still seemingly set to be the No. 1 overall pick. Yet he has changed his story, is now is saying he received them for free from a store employee.

On ESPN’s “Draft Academy” show, Winston told Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh and Michigan offensive coordinator Jedd Fisch the new story. He said, “The week before it was my buddy’s birthday and we had got a cake and we met a dude who was inside Publix. And he said, ‘Hey, any time you come in here, I got you.’ So that day, we just walked up and he hooked us up with that.

“And when I came in to get crab legs, he did the same thing. And he just gave them to me and I walked out. Someone from inside the store said I didn’t pay for them and that’s how the whole thing started.”

ESPN’s Marcellus Wiley has maintained through tweets on various shows that Winston took one for his teammates and others who knew of this Publix taking care of players. I didn’t buy it at first but these kids are instructed to tell the truth when asked about things as they get closer to the draft.

And what college town does’t have star players getting taken care of?

What say you to this?

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