Quarterback Jameis Winston’s latest misstep not only has eroded his support among some fans, but this time it will affect top-ranked Florida State on the field.
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The university Wednesday suspended Winston for the first half of the ACC showdown against No. 22 Clemson on Saturday night for publicly shouting on campus a sexually explicit phrase derogatory to women.
Winston, last season’s Heisman Trophy winner, stood on a table in a courtyard between the student union and a classroom building Tuesday and shouted an obscenity that has become widespread on social media after being heard on live television during the World Cup this summer.
The saying has become popular on college campuses, and Winston’s use of it was viewed by many students as a joke. It became public after students posted his comments on Twitter.
Former Florida representative Carl Domino of Jupiter agreed with the decision to punish Winston.
“He’s got to understand the consequences aren’t just to him but to the whole team,” Domino said. “He’s not going to play a half, and 85 kids busting their tails could lose their chance at a national championship.”
Winston’s replacement in the first half Saturday will be Sean Maguire, a third-year sophomore from Seton Hall Prep in New Jersey who has had only mop-up duty.
One prominent booster said he was “dumbstruck” by Winston’s latest incident. Winston previously was investigated for sexual assault and cited for shoplifting.
“He’s embarrassing his teammates. He’s embarrassing his coaches. He’s embarrassing the school, the boosters, the alumni,” the booster said. “It’s indefensible.”
The suspension was announced in a statement by FSU interim president Garnett S. Stokes and athletic director Stan Wilcox. They called Winston’s comments “offensive and vulgar” and said he would undergo “internal discipline” as well as miss the first half of Saturday’s home game.
Winston, a third-year sophomore, apologized after the discipline was announced.
“I know that I messed up,” he said. “I have to tone it down … in the media, everything. I have to do that.
“It eats me alive that I did something like that. I can’t carry myself that way.”
Many believe Winston should have learned that lesson long ago. In the spring, he was cited by police for walking out of a grocery store without paying for $32 worth of crab legs.
That was just months after Tallahassee police and the district attorney investigated him for the alleged sexual assault of an FSU student. No charges were filed.
The university recently began its own investigation into the incident, which occurred in December 2012, after Winston’s accuser filed a Title IX complaint. The federal Title IX law prohibits discrimination based on gender and requires the university to investigate claims of sexual harassment or assault.
Coach Jimbo Fisher expressed his disappointment in Winston, especially in light of his other off-field incidents.
“It’s not a good decision,” Fisher said. “You can’t make statements that are derogatory, inflammatory to any person, race or gender. You have to understand that.”
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