A Twitter campaign initiated by Florida State University regarding quarterback Jameis Winston turned sour on Sunday when the university's athletic department welcomed questions for the Heisman Trophy winner on Twitter. Fans could ask their questions using the hashtag #AskJameis.
Winston, who has been linked to several off-field issues, was slated to field questions on the team's Twitter account that were to be used in a video on the team's website, but things turned ugly in a hurry.
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Several people bombarded the Twitter account to take shots at the sophomore for his off-field issues, including the investigation into an alleged sexual assault of a female student last season that he was never charged in.
Twitter users also took aim at Winston being suspended from the baseball team and having to serve 20 hours of community service this spring for a citation he was issued for stealing $32 worth of crab legs from a grocery store.
To FSU's horror, the #AskJameis initiative started trending due to all of the wrong reasons.
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"I knew there was going to be some negativity going into it," FSU sports information director Elliott Finebloom said via ESPN. "The goal of the Twitter Q&A was to continue to find ways to connect our fans and the players they support. That's important to us ... and social [media] is a big way of doing it these days. That was the ultimate goal."
The tweets heavily criticizing Winston came in from a wide-range of sources.
"Who gave you better protection last year -- your offensive line or the [Tallahassee Police Department]," one tweet read.
FSU still plans to post the video of the questions that Winston was able to field, as some people are truly fans of him while others have continued to heckle him for his transgressions.
"There is definitely a group of people that [are looking to attack Winston]," Finebloom said. "He's done such a good job of reaching our fan base in so many different ways. You'd hate to not be able to continue to make sure people knew about how many good things he does."
Winston was heckled throughout away games during FSU's baseball season, but he'll return to the gridiron this fall looking to expand on an impressive freshman campaign.
Last season in his Heisman Trophy-winning campaign, Winston went 257-for-384 (66.9 percent) for 4,057 yards with 40 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.
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