On a recent episode of the "Pardon My Take" podcast, New Orleans Saints quarterback Jameis Winston discussed the dynamic of being a kid committed to Florida State while growing up near Alabama and not attending that program.
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For context, when Winston chose to join coach Jimbo Fisher at Florida State, he put that school back on the map, along with Mario Edwards and several other top recruits.
Still, many wonder why Winston chose that program over Alabama, LSU, Ohio State, South Carolina and others.
At FSU, Winston was recruited by Dameyune Craig. Funny enough, Craig would go on to steal FSU's signals in the 2013 national championship game when he was the co-offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach for the Auburn Tigers.
In the podcast episode, Winston discussed how he and Fisher were similar.
"I think when you are around people with similar energy, with similar mindsets, those energies work towards each other," Winston said about Fisher. "They go together."
He elaborated further:
"Jimbo had a lot to prove, right? Jimbo was ... he was coming coming from LSU. ... He was filling in the steps of Bobby Bowden. The legendary coach. And this is Florida State. I get it, Florida State isn't in SEC, but historically this has been a dominant college.
"For you to fill the shoes of Bobby Bowden and for people to always connect you with Nick Saban for your entire career, you have a chip on your shoulder to say, 'Hey, I'm going to have my Moses moment. I'm not going to be Aaron. There's nothing wrong with being Aaron, but I'm going to be Moses.
"And when I got with Jimbo, Jimbo expressed that to me. Because unlike a lot of people, and it's not judging, but some people are not wired to others. You hear the term 'we ain't cut from the same cloth.' I instantly knew Jimbo and I were cut from the same cloth because Jimbo wanted a championship. He was going to do whatever he could to get that."
After discussing his relationship with Fisher and why the two clicked, he talked about harassment he received from Alabama fans.
"I'm a kid from Alabama," Winston said. "I'm 35 minutes from Alabama. Listen, when I committed to Florida State, the things that happened to me and my family was unbelievable."
Winston, now 30, grew up in Bessemer, Alabama.
"Living in the state of Alabama, 35 minutes from Tuscaloosa. I mean, my mailbox was getting beat down. Thank the Lord you know, Home Depot had these mailboxes you can stick in the in the ground.
"And this is something that's serious, I felt like one time, well not one time, I still don't have grass that grows in my front yard at my hometown house. I still don't. because I feel like somebody poisoned in my grass. ... "
"You know what I'm saying? And I don't want to I don't want to blame Harvey or anybody, but I believe something happened. Like how does my grass just stop stop growing? And I smelled gasoline when I got home. Me and my dad, we talk about this.
"My grandmother, she worked at UAB Medical, and got rest her soul. And she was an avid Alabama fan. And fans would send my grandmother, my GRANDMOTHER, hate mail. You going at my Grandma just because her grandson ain't going to Alabama? You know, that is the stuff that you that you go through and it builds (you up)."
To summarize all of that, Winston said people would beat down his mailbox, he thinks someone poisoned the grass on his front lawn, he smelled gasoline at his house, and his grandmother received hate mail while working at the UAB Medical Center.
Winston would go on to post a 26-1 record in 27 games and throw for 7,964 yards, 65 touchdowns and 28 interceptions.
He won several Atlantic Coast Conference awards including Athlete of the Year, Player of the Year, Offensive Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year, and he won the 2013 Heisman Trophy.
He was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2015 NFL Draft. In the NFL, he began his career with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, where he played from 2015 to 2019. He's been with the New Orleans Saints since 2020. He led the league in passing in 2019, throwing for 5,109 yards along with 33 touchdowns and 30 interceptions.
To this point in his NFL career, Winston has gone 34-46 as a starter, completing 61.2% of his passes for 22,104 yards, 141 touchdowns and 99 interceptions.
