After speaking to students at Melrose Elementary in Tampa, FL Wednesday, Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston is under fire over some of his comments.
Winston told the group of third to fifth graders that men are supposed to be “strong,” while ladies are “supposed to be silent, polite [and] gentle.”
Partial transcript of Winston as follows:
“All my young boys, stand up. The ladies, sit down. But all my boys, stand up. We strong, right? We strong! We strong, right? All my boys, tell me one time: I can do anything I put my mind to. Now, a lot of boys aren’t supposed to be soft-spoken. You know what I’m saying? One day y’all are going to have a very deep voice like this [in deep voice]. One day, you’ll have a very, very deep voice.
But the ladies, they’re supposed to be silent, polite, gentle. My men, my men supposed to be strong. I want y’all to tell me what the third rule of life is: I can do anything I put my mind to. Scream it!
After receiving criticism for his word choice, given the settlement reached with rape accuser Erica Kinsman, Winston clarified his comments.
“I was making an effort to interact with a young male in the audience who didn’t seem to be paying attention, and I didn’t want to single him out, so I asked all the boys to stand up,” Winston told the Tampa Bay Times. “During my talk, I used a poor word choice that may have overshadowed that positive message for some.”
Follow Trent Baker on Twitter @MagnifiTrent
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.