Despite his checkered history coming out of Florida State, Tampa Bay disregarded all the red flags surrounding Jameis Winston and selected him with the No. 1 overall selection in the 2015 NFL Draft. Now the team appears to poised to pay for that decision as multiple reports state that the Buccaneer quarterback will be suspended for multiple games to start the 2018 season.
ESPN was the first to report the news of the suspension.
The reason for Winston’s suspension? He has been accused of sexually assaulting an Uber driver back in March of 2016. The NFL is expected to suspend Winston for three games but could add to his suspension if he does not “meet certain undisclosed requirements” laid out by the NFL, according to Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times.
For what it’s worth, Winston is not expected to appeal the suspension.
Even if Winston is completely innocent of these charges, all NFL players are required to inform the league of any pending legal issues. Winston failed to do so. It should be noted that the accuser is not seeking monetary compensation from Winston, at this time, and states she was motivated to come forward following the alleged incident during the start of the “Me Too” movement.
It’s unclear at this time if Winston is being suspended for failing to report the issue, as Winston’s camp reportedly leaked to the media in an attempt to get ahead of the news, or if the NFL is suspending him for his conduct off the field.
If Winston isn’t innocent of the charges, he may be even dumber than some people perceive him to be as this alleged incident in the Uber occurred while his civil lawsuit was still pending from the former Florida State student that has accused Winston of rape.
Mike Garafolo of NFL Media recently provided the latest on the situation in an NFL Network segment:
A few notes on Jameis Winston’s situation, following up on reports from ESPN Tallahassee and ESPN. One thing to highlight: Ronald Darby’s backing Winston ultimately didn’t hold water because he wasn’t in the car the whole time, the NFL’s investigation found. pic.twitter.com/hd0wAsfSpS
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) June 21, 2018
This tweet sums up the situation for Winston fairly well:
What's worse if you are a Bucs fan:
That your team drafted a QB #1 overall who had FOUR separate incidents in 2.5 years of college
or
that he isn't getting better and the team was 3-10 with him last year yet 2-1 with Ryan Fitzpatrick?
— Ross Tucker (@RossTuckerNFL) June 22, 2018
A graduate of the University of Tennessee, Michael Wayne Bratton oversees the news coverage for Saturday Down South. Michael previously worked for FOX Sports and NFL.com
