Jameis Winston doesn’t care.
That’s the only explanation I have for his latest off the field wrongdoing, allegedly standing up in the FSU student union and saying an obscene phrase out loud for all to hear. It was passed around Twitter on Tuesday, and it was announced Wednesday that the reigning Heisman trophy winner will sit out of the first half of what will be one of Florida State’s toughest tests — Clemson.
Saying things like "how can he not understand who he is?" and "he has to be more self aware" aren’t giving Winston enough credit. He would truly have to be an idiot to not get the status he has on campus. Those things are often said by onlookers that can’t fathom how he keeps popping up on the negative side of the news cycle.
I just don’t think anyone can be that dense.
So I have a counter to that notion: What if Winston does get it, what if he does grasp his status on the national scale but he just doesn’t really care what you or I think?
To the victor go the spoils in this society, and everyday walking around Tallahassee they are shoved in Winston’s face. His Heisman, the team’s success and the attention paid to him. Just the mere fact something Winston said in jest became a half suspension in one of the biggest games of his season is testament enough to his reach.
On social media I see everyone being so puzzled with how these things keep on happening and I keep coming back to the idea that maybe Winston’s just apathetic to your tweets and your outrage — that he probably isn’t looking at anyway given coach Jimbo Fisher’s team-wide in-season ban on social media use.
To be clear: I don’t think Jameis Winston’s attitude is a good thing. I don’t think it’s the best idea to conduct yourself with an "only God can judge me" attitude. In fact I think it’s pretty juvenile to do so when you have the clout that Winston has, but nothing about public sentiment is going to get him to change and I think that’s pretty clear.
It requires taking something away from him that he loves — maybe more than once — to get through to somebody.
You see, the interesting thing about Jameis Winston is he doesn’t have to answer to you or me or anyone really outside of his family and his team, then compound that with the understanding that FSU has not properly taken an "enough is enough" stance and you have issues.
I believe the school took that stance yesterday. He continued like business as usual, since as far as he’s concerned, business was usual and yesterday was a tipping point.
I’m aware he was suspended from the baseball team following crab-gate, I assume baseball is important to him, but it isn’t something that appears to be on schedule to pay him millions of dollars this time next year.
What Winston did on its face does not merit suspension, it merits a talking to from Jimbo Fisher, and maybe some windsprints after practice for what I regard as jockish behavior. But combined with the other things he’s done — things that cannot be done flippantly when you are who he is — he forced FSU to act.
I don’t really think this suspension was initiated by Fisher. It’s got to go higher than that, and it’s evidenced pretty clearly by the fact that the statement released by the school was attached to athletics director Stan Wilcox and interim president Garnett Stokes.
Winston embarrassed them and made them look foolish while the school is in the midst of a highly contentious search for a new president and while the NFL continues to make an ass of itself seemingly every hour on the hour.
The public relations climate a football player exists in nowadays along with Winston’s prior character demerits — both alleged and proven — shows that what he did just wasn’t going to fly.
You can’t force Winston to change and he’s not dense enough to be oblivious to who he is.
I simply refuse to believe that.
I subscribe to the notion that he’s just apathetic, and if he continues to act out, the school will be forced to take extra measures to correct that because Winston’s attitude will leave them no choice.
Follow Richard Johnson on Twitter @RagjUF
Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher talks to quarterback Jameis Winston (5) during FSU's 37-7 win against UF on Nov. 30 at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.
