The 2015 NFL draft has Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston’s face plastered all over it. This we know for certain, so naturally every other story about the NFL draft will contain Winston’s name.
Winston’s off-the-field antics have been talked about more than what he can do in the pocket—most famously (at least in a joking manner) the crab leg incident.
He recently told Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh in an episode of ESPN’s Draft Academy that it was “just another hook up” from a Publix employee who was known to give free food to Florida State players.
CBS Sports has part of the conversation:
Winston: “How I’m supposed to handle, like, if I just got them for free? I just say, ‘I just messed up?’”
Harbaugh: “If somebody gave them to you for free?”
Winston: “Yeah.”
Harbaugh: “So, what happened? So, explain that to me — explain that to me — you got them for free? Explain that to me.”
Winston: “Well, a week before it was my buddy’s birthday and we had got a cake and we met a dude that worked inside Publix and he said, ‘Hey, anytime you come in here, I got you.’ So that day we just walked out and he hooked us up with that.
“And when I came in to get crab legs, I did the same thing and he just gave them to me and I walked out. And someone from inside the store had told the security that I didn’t pay for them. And that’s how the whole thing started.”
Back in April of 2014, Winston stole crab legs from a Publix Food and Pharmacy. Naturally, the social media world had a lot of fun with it, and it just added to Winston’s already tainted reputation.
He was suspended from the Florida State baseball team for shoplifting the legs (worth $32.72).
While this isn’t the incident that has raised red flags for teams around the NFL, it does speak to a certain level of immaturity. Getting hooked up for food is one thing. Breaking the law in the process is a completely different thing.
Photo: USA Today Sports