Bowden: Consensus among FSU fans that Winston was an 'embarrassment'
Former Florida State coach Bobby Bowden still isn't a big fan of Jameis Winston's tenure at Florida State.
The second-winningest coach in FBS told Paul Finebaum on Tuesday that it was a "consensus" among Florida State fans and boosters that the No. 1 pick in the 2015 NFL draft was an "embarrassment in a lot of ways" to Florida State.
Here's the full audio of Bowden's comments, which came when Finebaum said many people felt Winston was an embarrassment and asked Bowden to comment about the controversy that surrounded Winston's time at Florida State.
“Well, I think it’s a consensus among Florida State fans and boosters that he was an embarrassment in a lot of ways to the university," Bowden said. "He won a lot of ballgames, probably one of the best football players that ever attended Florida State but he hurt himself off the field. The good news is that he’s young enough to get over that, you know it? But he’s got to do that, he just can’t make those junior high school decisions that he made when he was in college.”
Last fall, after Winston was suspended for a game for shouting an obscene phrase, Bowden said Winston did things that kids in grammar school would do. His sentiments referencing a lack of maturity on Winston's part aren't new.
While many people may have been ashamed in the way that the university was portrayed during the allegations into sexual assault against Winston (he was never charged, or found guilty of a violation of FSU's code of conduct), reported incidents with BB guns and his citation for taking crab legs and crawfish from a Publix, others are staunch defenders of the quarterback. Why? Well, because he won the 2013 Heisman Trophy and led Florida State to a BCS championship game win over Auburn in January 2014.
And you could argue that the support system around Winston was also at least partially complicit in the embarrassment he may have caused. The investigation into the sexual assault allegation was criticized by the Florida state prosecutor and another report said Florida State officials interfered with the case. Florida State even went to the lengths of issuing an open letter detailing a timeline of its events.
Heck, Winston's father even said last summer that his family and those at Florida State "dropped the ball on that a little bit" while referencing helping the quarterback handle himself in the spotlight. And it's not like Bowden didn't coach players who had issues off the field either.
If Winston was truly an embarrassment to the university, as Bowden says many believe, the embarrassment was accompanied by a shiny trophy and a lot of glory for Florida State, not to mention some increased revenue. Is it a worthy tradeoff?
For more Florida State news, visit Warchant.com.
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Nick Bromberg is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
