Florida State has suspended starting quarterback Jameis Winston for the first half of Saturday’s game against Clemson for yelling an obscene phrase in a public space Tuesday.
“As the university’s most visible ambassadors, student-athletes at Florida State are expected to uphold at all times high standards of integrity and behavior that reflect well upon themselves, their families, coaches, teammates, the Department of Athletics and Florida State University. Student-athletes are expected to act in a way that reflects dignity and respect for others,” interim president Garnett Stokes and athletics director Stan Wilcox said in a statement, via Don Wolken of USA TODAY Sports.
“As a result of his comments (Tuesday), which were offensive and vulgar, Jameis Winston will undergo internal discipline and will be withheld from competition for the first half of the Clemson game.”
Winston addressed the media Wednesday afternoon, apologizing for the tasteless phrase he yelled and admitting that it was a “selfish act.”
“First of all I just want to apologize to the university, to my coaches and to my teammates,” he said. “I’m not a ‘me’ person, but in that situation, that was a selfish act and that’s not how you do things around here, so I really just want to apologize to my teammates because I’ve now made a selfish act for them and that’s all.
“I messed up and I have to accept the fact I did that. It eats me alive I did something like that.”
This is the latest incident for Winston, who was involved in a sexual assault investigation in 2012, and received a legal citation for shoplifting crab legs from a grocery store in April.
Photo via USA TODAY Sports Images/Melina Vastola
