One NFL general manager was asked his thoughts on the contention by Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher that Jameis Winston’s crab leg escapade was an isolated incident. His response was anger. Almost rage. Not at Winston but at Fisher. Let me explain.
Winston told Jim Harbaugh on ESPN's draft show that he didn’t steal the crab legs, but that they were part of an arrangement with a store employee that would provide Winston with free food from the store.
“Well, a week before it was my buddy’s birthday and we had got a cake and we met a dude that worked inside Publix and he said, ‘Hey, anytime you come in here, I got you.’” Winston said. “So that day we just walked out and he hooked us up with that.
“And when I went in to get crab legs, did the same thing and he just gave them to me and I walked out. Someone from inside the store had told the security that I didn’t pay for them, and that’s how the whole thing started.”
Bruce Feldman of Fox reported that Fisher says the school’s compliance department investigated the matter and found that what happened was an isolated incident.
I asked an NFL general manager about it and he offered this scathing rebuke of Fisher.
“Our investigators found several Publix employees who corroborated what Winston said. Winston told this story to our team and I believe others. We were able to determine that he was telling the truth. I won’t get into more detail than that.
“Should Winston have taken free food? No, of course not. But college football stars, at every campus in America, get free stuff. They all do. Every single one.
“We feel like Winston was wrong but he’s part of an overall college system where this happens daily. My personal opinion is that on this issue, and this issue alone, he was hung out to dry.”
Meaning, it was easier to portray Winston as a thief, than to face scrutiny from the NCAA.
Two things are clear here. First, as the general manager said, almost every athlete, in every big-time program, gets perks. That's just common sense. It is far more likely that Winston is telling the truth, and far less likely that he was alone doing it, and only did it that once.
Second, NFL investigators can find out anything.
