Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Jameis Winston had to be held back by police trying to calm a bench-clearing fracas during Florida's 4-1 upset win over top-ranked Florida State Tuesday night in Jacksonville.
ESPN reports the skirmish ensued when FSU's DJ Stewart ran into Florida pitcher Danny Young as he was fielding his slow roller along the first-base line. Florida first baseman Zack Powers later confronted Stewart, and the two had to be separated by umpires.
Jameis Winston cleared of rape allegations
But not before benches emptied and players including Winston, all raced onto the field. While ESPN added no punches appeared to be thrown, their was plenty of pushing and shoving. Stewart, Young and Powers were all ejected, as was Florida's Justin Shafer stemming from a later incident.
The incident marked the first of what could be deemed bad PR news for winston since he was criminally cleared on rape charges several months ago. A former FSU student accused the 19-year-old, redshirt freshman quarterback of assaulting her at an off-campus party in 2012.
Jameis Winston rape accuser set to file civil suit
The incident lingered for more than a year before being seriously investigated by prosecutors who later revealed they did not have enough evidence to formally file any charges against Winston, who went on to lead the Seminoles to an undefeated season a national championship.
Florida and FSU meet again in Tallahassee on April 8.
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