SCARBROUGH'S TAKE

Jameis Winston: Heismans, Gophers and Punishments

Lyn Scarbrough

September 19, 2014 at 1:07 pm.

Florida State Seminoles quarterback Jameis Winston. Melina Vastola-USA TODAY Sports

Let’s get this out of the way up front.

I’m a graduate of Hueytown High School. For those who don’t know, Hueytown is a suburb west of Birmingham, until recently best known in the sports world as home to the Alabama Gang, the premiere group of NASCAR drivers, led by all of the Allisons, Red Farmer, Neil Bonnett, Hut Stricklin and friends.

During the past year, my home community and its high school have been better known as the home of Jameis Winston, the Heisman Trophy winning quarterback at Florida State who led the Seminoles to the narrow come-from-behind win over Auburn for the national championship in Pasadena. In early July, he was honored by Hueytown, receiving the key to the city.

Thousands of Hueytown people were proud for Winston, the talented former Golden Gopher. They bragged when he earned college football’s highest honor, bringing attention to our hometown.

For the record, I’m not proud and I’m not bragging anymore.

I am embarrassed, disgusted and fed up.

In case you’ve been under a rock this week, Winston on Wednesday stood on a table in a room full of people and shouted a string of words that a drunken sailor wouldn’t even consider – words that were despicable, degrading and indefensible.

If that was the only disturbing thing that Winston had done since he left Hueytown for Tallahassee – that would be bad enough. Unfortunately, it becomes just the latest on a long list:

  • Stealing frozen seafood from a supermarket
  • Taking sodas from a restaurant
  • Allegedly committing rape with an investigation still ongoing

And, now this. (Sorry if I’ve left some out, but it’s hard to remember them all.)

Of course, Winston issued a public, seemingly sincere apology. In case you missed it, don’t worry. Just go back and replay any of the other similar apologies that he issued after each other public humiliation. You know, the one where he says he should be held to a higher standard and how he will get his act together and not again embarrass Florida State or his family or himself.

Of course, any person should be given a second chance, the opportunity to redeem himself, to prove that a lesson has been learned. But, how many second chances are there? When is enough, enough?

The entire pathetic Winston saga is disturbing in so many ways.

It’s apparent that Winston needs help. Only a deeply troubled person continues to conduct himself in ways that destroy his reputation and endanger his future. He needs guidance, solid counsel, and enforced strict regulations. Is anybody ever going to do that for Winston? It certainly doesn’t appear that Florida State is going to do it.

One of the worst aspects of this is the reaction from Seminole coaches and the university itself. For this latest tirade, coming on top of all of the other things, head coach Jimbo Fisher is going to make Winston miss 30 minutes of football.

Thirty minutes of football! Are you kidding me!

That would be inadequate for this latest episode alone if Winston had previously been an exemplary choir boy since starting his Seminole career. Obviously, that has not been the case. At the very least, he should have been indefinitely suspended. Complete dismissal from the team would even be a justified consideration.

But, if nothing more than one-half of football is involved, it would be better … much better … to do nothing.

This weak, meaningless “punishment” only adds to Winston’s obvious feeling of entitlement, the idea that he is above the law, not responsible for the same considerations of decency and respect that most people observe.

What this actually does is give Winston the opportunity to be the hero, riding in on a white horse … or maybe on Renegade, the appaloosa mascot … to save the day, bring the home team back in the second half, and get ovations from the adoring Seminole crowd inside Doak Campbell.

Especially at this time when so many headlines involve NFL players breaking the law, abusing family members and assaulting women, what kind of message does this send? Is it any wonder that coddled players feel entitled to do anything without fear of real repercussions? Do some college coaches and administrators continue to enable players like Winston to feel that the normal rules of behavior don’t apply for them?

I was in the pressbox on Thursday night in Manhattan, Kan., for the Kansas State-Auburn game. The Winston situation was a topic of conversation there, as well as in the tailgate lot on the east side of the stadium. How this plays out will be significant nationally.

“It’s not enough,” said a Wildcat fan, decked out in purple, cooking chicken on his grill. “That’s almost no punishment at all. If he did that here, he wouldn’t play again, ever, and we wouldn’t want him to.”

“He just doesn’t get it, and Florida State obviously doesn’t get it,” said a longtime sportswriter. “If that’s all that’s going to be done, don’t do anything at all. That would be less embarrassing for Florida State than what they’re doing.”

“Kick him out of school,” said a former college running back, one that played back in the 1980s when “we were held responsible for what we did, regardless of who we were or what position we played.”

I called a good many Hueytown High School graduates and former residents, trying to find one that would come to Winston’s defense, justify the half-game suspension, suggest that enough punishment had been given. I couldn’t find even one.

Ask yourself a couple of questions:

What if these things had been done by the second team offensive tackle for the Seminoles instead of by the Heisman winning quarterback?

What if these things had been done by a player for Coach Paul Bryant or Coach Shug Jordan or coaches of their era and stature?

I think we know those answers.

I feel bad for Florida State and the majority of its fans who are good people.

I feel bad for the impressionable children who have looked up to Winston.

And, I feel bad for Hueytown.

Is there a way to get that key back?