The End Of The Line For Jameis?

As a franchise the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have one Super Bowl Championship to their credit, but overall they have had their fair share of lean years. The Buccaneers inception into the National Football League in 1976 began with them losing their first 26 games, while from 1983-1994, they posted 12 consecutive double-digit loss seasons.

After going 2-14 in 2014, the Bucs saw the need to once again start over. And as the Buccaneers acknowledged this, they sought to find themselves a new franchise quarterback to potentially turn things around. That quarterback would be none other than Jameis Winston who had already become a household name in the Sunshine State.

As a freshman at Florida State in 2013, Winston led the school to its first national championship in football since 2000, while also taking home the Heisman Trophy as the nation’s top player. Overall Winston would only lose one game at Florida State as he had all of the physical tools that pro scouts drool over from the quarterback position. At 6’4″, Winston had the height to be a prototypical National Football League quarterback, while he also possessed arm strength and athleticism. But it was not a slam dunk for Winston to be a success in the National Football League due his off-the-field behavior.

In 2013 while at Florida State, there were allegations of a sexual assault that was committed by Winston against a female student, along with a cover up of the incident by both the school and Tallahassee Police Department. No charges were filed against Winston, but he and the school would each settle out-of-court with the accuser. Also in 2013, police were called to a Tallahassee Burger King after an employee there accused Winston of stealing soda, while in 2014, he was issued a citation for shoplifting at a grocery store. And also in 2014, Winston was suspended by Florida State for one game following his vulgar remarks at the student union.

But even with all of these red flags against Winston off of the field, the Bucs still decided to make him the first overall pick of the 2015 National Football League Draft in order for him to be the centerpiece of their proposed turnaround.

In 2015, Winston would be selected to the Pro Bowl along with being named as the National Football League’s Rookie of the Year. That season would see Winston pass for 4,042 yards and 22 touchdowns as Tampa Bay improved their win total by four games. The Bucs front office would then fire head coach Lovie Smith in order to promote offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter after they were fearful of losing the OC to another team as they wanted him to continue tutoring the young Winston.

In 2016, Winston would help the Buccaneers finish with a record of 9-7 for their first winning season in six years as he appeared to be turning the corner as both a football player and leader. But just like a leopard, Winston has not changed his spots.

Last November, Winston was accused of groping a female Uber driver in Arizona and this led to the National Football League suspending him for the first three games of the current season. However instead of the Bucs giving Winston a huge extension as he is nearing the end of his rookie deal, team general manager Jason Licht instead only opted to extend him through 2019. And as Winston’s play was once able to somewhat remove the stench of his behavior, he has thrown 10 interceptions in just four games this season for with Tampa Bay which included a 4-interception performance this past Sunday versus the Cincinnati Bengals.

Winston’s performance versus the Bengals resulted in Koetter not only benching him during the game, but also naming backup quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick as the starter for this Sunday’s meeting with the Carolina Panthers. And as Winston has now lost his job to a 35-year old journeyman quarterback in Fitzpatrick who himself has been turnover prone throughout his career, have we seen the end of the former Heisman Trophy winner in Tampa Bay?

As a starter in the National Football League, Winston’s record is 19-29, while he has thrown 75 touchdowns to 54 interceptions. And at a time where front offices around the league are giving away money to quarterbacks like no tomorrow, Winston won’t be cashing in due to his behavior off of the field, and his play on it.

Winston is 24-years of age and he still has plenty of maturity ahead of him. I don’t see any team in the National Football League that will be willing to make Winston the face of their franchise for next season which means that he is going to have to prove himself.

Winston will have to accept a one, maybe two-year deal with plenty of incentives written in, while also potentially being a backup; not because he is not good enough to be a starter, but because teams cannot trust him to do the right thing on and off the field. And this is sad due to the fact that Winston has the physical skills to be a starter, while there are plenty of teams around the National Football League who are in need of a new starting quarterback.

Winston has proven himself to be untrustworthy off of the field in one of the smallest media markets in the National Football League which doesn’t bode well from him if he were to go to a bigger city. Winston is still young, but he needs to surround himself with people off the field who are going to make him a better man which will translate to him becoming a better football player. And if Winston is unable to get his act together soon, he will quickly categorized as just another player who had the talent to be great, but was simply unable to attain it.