It’s the eve of a matchup between two of college football’s most storied programs—the Florida State Seminoles and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish—but the story football fans are most focused on is the latest round of speculation concerning Heisman winner Jameis Winston and his signature. No, not his signature charisma, or signature pep talks, or signature ability to throw a jump pass in traffic. Literally, his signature.
On October 23rd, major media outlets began reporting that FSU was investigating the presence of a large batch of items bearing Winston’s scripty autograph, which are currently listed with the same authentication company that verified Todd Gurley’s signature. Gurley has since been suspended under suspicion of being paid for autographs.
More than 900 Winston-signed items can be found in the databases of James Spence Authentication, a company which scrutinizes signatures for authenticity, but does not initiate autograph signings. Only a portion of those autographs—approximately 340—are specifically being called into question.
Raising speculation is the fact that 340 of those items have serial numbers assigned in sequential order—denoting that they were all submitted by the same person, most likely a merchandise broker. This does not, of course, confirm that Winston was paid to sign anything, but simply that he may have signed a large batch in one sitting for one person. There is one detail which would most likely shed light on the paid-vs-unpaid debate that Florida State supporters (and pitchforkers) so desperately want answered: who is the broker?
It seems unlikely that the same individual who allegedly compensated Gurley for autographs would have paid Winston. Multiple outlets have reported that the broker was Bryan Allen, who has since hired Atlanta attorney Ed Garland. Allen is trying to protect himself from a Georgia law that would allow the university to sue him for damages from intentionally causing a regulation violation. Allen apparently knew Gurley well enough to meet with him multiple times in Georgia for signings—including the incident that took place in Allen’s car and in the video he shopped to multiple websites for cash. Although it’s not impossible that Allen also met with Winston, Allen’s relationship to Gurley seems more probable due to proximity and their mutual connections within the state of Georgia.
Surprisingly, no one has stepped forward with actual knowledge or accusations of Winston being paid to sign; suspicion was only raised by the presence of such a large submission. It is the size of the batch of merchandise which suggests that Winston either accepted money, or is more accommodating than the average college football fan expects a star player to be.
The issues with autographs, benefits and payments are nothing new. Tajh Boyd, Jadeveon Clowney, Braxton Miller, Marcus Lattimore, and Sammie Watkins all came under scrutiny for signing large batches of items while playing in college. Julio Jones and Mark Ingram were given a public scolding and asked to donate “restitution” for allegedly accepting improper benefits at Alabama. Oh yes, and then there was JohnnyGate, the autograph scandal which resulted in a half-game suspension of Johnny Manziel.
The glare could not be more ill-timed for Florida State, who is arguably facing one of its toughest opponents of the season this week in the Fighting Irish. The Seminoles now find themselves fending off the normal distractions of a high-stakes competition, ESPN’s College Gameday coming to town, and all of the outside noise that comes with round-the-clock coverage of Winston.
Although Vegas sportsbooks have removed the top-5 matchup from their betting boards, head coach Jimbo Fisher seems confident that all will proceed as planned this weekend aagainst Notre Dame: “[We] feel very good. Talked to [Jameis] and everything, people have talked to the owners of the company and different people, from what I understand.” Fisher told reporters, “He’s never taken a dime from anything.”
“We’ll see… They’re sorting it out, but I feel very confident right now.”
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