Concerns had been raised about Jameis Winston’s off-field conduct before he was picked No1 overall by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Thursday night. And it didn’t take long for him to send mild ripples of controversy after his first steps into pro football.
Winston was cited for shoplifting crab legs during his college career and decided to celebrate his selection by the Bucs by posting a picture of himself to Instagram with a plate of … crab legs. While the incident was light-hearted it may not have comforted Tampa Bay to see that their new quarterback can still court controversy. Someone in Winston’s team clearly decided it was a bad move and the post appearst to have been deleted.
Winston’s talent marked him out as the logical choice for Tampa Bay, who have lacked a reliable quarterback for years and have not won a playoff game since 2002. However during his college career as well as the shoplifting incident, Winston was banned for shouting obscenities and was accused of sexual assault, although he was not arrested or charged over the allegation.
Jameis Winston celebrates being #1 pick with crab Legs http://t.co/VwxCpEUq1b pic.twitter.com/u5XAxnICKM
— Bud Elliott (@TomahawkNation) May 1, 2015
The Tampa Bay general manager Jason Licht, said he was happy Winston would be a model pro. “If he wasn’t a good guy, we wouldn’t have used the first pick on him,” Licht said. “He’s a champion. He’s a leader. He’s a winner. He’s got tremendous football character, tremendous intelligence and work ethic. “His work ethic is one thing that really, really put him over the top for us.”
