Of all the unbelievable sports stories which took the internet and social media by storm in the last week of April, this one may have played king to them all…king crab, that is. Florida State University’s star quarterback, Jameis Winston, was issued an adult civil citation by the Tallahassee Police Department for petit theft…of crab legs. Thirty-two dollars worth of crab legs from a Publix seafood department.
Cue the wisecracks on all things claw, crab-trap and “stole-it-like-you-went-to-Florida-State” related.
All jokes aside though, this latest crustacean conundrum presents very real concerns for supporters of the freshman phenom.
Winston has never been arrested, but has had a handful of brushes with the law—the now well-known rape allegations, a BB gun prank, and drinking soda out of tiny, sip-sized ketchup cups at a Burger King without paying for a full-sized soda. Talk about foreshadowing.
There is always the chance that Winston truly did accidentally walk out of a grocery store without paying for an item, as many of us have at some point. Most of us, if we answered honestly, didn’t race back to the store to offer pittance and payment for the three cases of diet soda and Gatorade stashed in the bottom of the cart. The difference is that Winston, whose personal life was more scrutinized last year than perhaps any other college athlete save for Johnny Manziel, should have realized the potential implications of getting caught.
Sure enough, Tallahassee Police Department showed up at Winston’s house three hours after the incident occurred. There had been plenty of time to go back to the grocery store, or at least make a phone call.
Florida State baseball coach Mike Martin has said that Winston will be suspended from the team until he completes all twenty hours of community service and pays the thirty dollar fine. Football Coach Jimbo Fisher seems to be leaving repercussions to Coach Martin, telling reporters, “I fully support Coach Martin’s decision and will also make sure that Jameis meets all obligations, which I know he will.”
The lapses in judgment showcase the immaturity typical of many twenty-year-olds; unfortunately for Winston, the public’s fascination with him doesn’t allow him the privacy to stumble and fall without boatloads of criticism aimed at him, his family, and the university.
Ironically enough, a year ago Winston told reporters exactly what he thought of quarterbacks-gone-wild when he referenced a rather infamous QB from Texas A&M University, who also spent his off-season repeatedly tripping into trouble.
“If I get Manziel disease, I want every one of you all to get your mikes and start slapping me on the head…It’s good to see things like that because he’s a great guy, he’s like me—he’s fun, he’s outgoing. But sometimes when all eyes are on you, you can’t do certain things.”
Your move, Johnny Football. Fire away. In fact, here’s a Dungeness mallet.
What Winston needs most now is mentoring. He needs honest, gritty advice from men he respects on how to handle the spotlight, and stronger accountability from the coaches on both of the teams he plays for. One person who might be able to get through to Winston? His idol, two-sport phenom and FSU alum Deion Sanders. After hearing about the incident, Sanders tweeted:
“I will reach out to @Jaboowins to make sure he’s straight and please remember he’s just a kid with a lot of talent. We’ve all made mistakes.”
Let’s hope Sanders is the voice of reason that can finally push Winston to lay low and embrace the maturation process that his fans so deeply hope he’ll find, or it won’t just be the reporters slapping Jameis upside the head.
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