No one knows for certain what Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston intends to do in the face of an alleged sexual assault on a classmate and possible autograph violations, however, the best advice to him may come from one source who maintains that, “There is no upside in waiting to go to the NFL now, after all of this.”
CBS Sports reported that according to some sources, Winston will remain steadfast in his defense of his innocence on both accounts and that he in no way considers dropping out of school to avoid further investigation into the matters.
Nevertheless, CBS’s Jason La Canfora writes that based on his fall from grace in the eyes of FSU’s brass, it seems certain that he will move forward toward the NFL draft after this season. He suggests, moreover, Winston could still well end up being a top 10 pick.
FSU football coach Jimbo Fisher and some in the athletic department continue to support Winston. Fisher has expressed that he believes his quarterback when Winston said that he never signed autographs in exchange for cash. Yet, a thumbs up from Jimbo probably won’t be enough to hold over the reigning Heisman Trophy winner for another year for the Seminoles.
Nevertheless, Winston graduating to the NFL may bring an end to his current set of problems. However, he can ask Ray Rice and Adrian Peterson if the NFL remains a safe harbor for accused malefactors.
Psychologist Dr. John F. Murray points out in a recent article for Newsday on the subject of domestic violence in sports that football players immerse themselves in a culture of violence.
“How do you turn it off?” many of the NFL players he has seen in 15 years of practicing sports psychology ask him. “How do you turn that instinct off? With football players, there are two completely different contexts of violence. One is rewarded on the field, and the other is abhorred off the field.”