Maybe it isn't "youthful ignorance." Maybe it's "college star athlete entitlement."
T-shirts make fun of Jameis Winston's shoplifting citation
CollegeSpun.com reported Friday that Florida State Seminoles quarterback and relief pitcher Jameis Winston may have a pattern of taking food from grocery stores without paying.
Or having to pay.
CollegeSpun.com posted a Facebook post in March based on an email tip describing another occasion in which Winston appeared to take food from a grocery store before without paying.
The website redacted the information about the Facebook account, but the comment on March 3 near Tallahassee, Fla., about Winston was clear:
Jameis Winston's "youthful ignorance" may cost him millions of dollars in the NFL
"I'm standing in line ordering seafood at a local grocery store when Heisman trophy winner Jameis Winston says, 'hey, what's the store managers name'. The girl replies (blacked out) He says, 'yeah (blacked out) said I could have whatever I want'. The then walks out with $100 free food. Probably not a violation."
ESPN analyst and former NFL player Marcellus Wiley tweeted that the Tallahassee grocery store in which Winston took $32 of seafood earlier in the week, Publix, has been letting student-athletes carry out food for years.
Jameis Winston's 'falling on the sword' 2 protect his teammates & 'higher ups' who knew of this Publix taking care of players for years! #YO
— Marcellus Wiley (@marcelluswiley) May 1, 2014
And South Florida Sun-Sentinel reporter Omar Kelly supports Wiley's claim with his own tweet.
To @marcelluswiley @mikefreemanNFL not YEARS....DECADES. — Omar Kelly (@OmarKelly) May 1, 2014
At this point, Florida State athletic officials - and student-athletes - might want this story just to go away. But if Wiley's claims are true, the Seminoles may have more to worry about than just their Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback taking some food without paying.
And as CollegeSpun.com also points out, it seems odd that if Publix had an arrangement with FSU prominent student-athletes, why would the grocery store suddenly turn in the Seminoles highest-profile student-athlete.
And if Winston is falling on the sword for a bigger conspiracy, then soiling his name now could come back to haunt the school later when he has money as a professional.
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