Publix says Jameis Winston was not hooked up with crab legs
Former Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston says he was “hooked up” with free food at a Publix in Tallahassee last April, leading to his infamous citation for shoplifting crab legs. Publix says that isn’t true.
A spokesperson from the supermarket chain told USA Today that the company’s investigation last year concluded that an employee did not give merchandise to Winston.
“When we conducted the original investigation with the store associates and management both, we found no information that would corroborate the story that there was any arrangement for Jameis or any other FSU athlete to get any product for free,” Maria Brous, Publix’s director of media and community relations, told USA Today.
Winston, who was cited for stealing $32 worth of crab legs, was cited by the Leon County Sheriff’s Office and was forced to complete 20 hours of community service. He was also suspended from FSU’s baseball team for three games.
After news of the incident emerged, Winston released a statement through FSU that said “went to the supermarket with the intent to purchase dinner but made a terrible mistake.”
“In a moment of youthful ignorance, I walked out of the store without paying for one of my items,” Winston’s statement read in part. “I make no excuses for my actions and will learn and grow from this unfortunate situation.”
Winston told police that he forgot to pay, but on ESPN’s Draft Academy, he told Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh (in a segment that was filmed in February) that a Publix employee previously “hooked us up” with a cake for a friend’s birthday, so he did the same thing with the crab legs.
“We met a dude that worked inside Publix and he said, ‘Hey, anytime you come in here, I got you.’ So that day, we just walked out and he hooked us up with that,” Winston said. “And when I went to get crab legs, I did the same thing and he just gave them to me and I walked out. And someone from inside the store had told the security that I didn’t pay for them and that’s how the whole thing started.”
Brous said that store associates and “the entire management team” of that Publix were interviewed and asked “directly” if any of them had an arrangement with Winston.
“There was no information that would lead us to believe that any of our associates were involved in giving away product,” Brous said.
Brous said the company sent a letter to Florida State on May 19 to inform the school of the investigation.
If someone from the supermarket was giving Winston free merchandise, it could be an NCAA violation. In a statement, Florida State athletic director Stan Wilcox said the school was not aware of the alleged arrangement Winston described and would work with the NCAA to see if a violation occurred.
“We have become aware of statements made by Jameis Winston during a recent interview with Jim Harbaugh describing the circumstances of his alleged receipt of food from a local grocery store,” Wilcox’s statement said. “The details disclosed by Winston in that interview were not previously known to the University. As is the case with all matters of this type, we will work in partnership with the NCAA to determine whether a violation occurred.”
Florida State head coach Jimbo Fisher said earlier Wednesday that he had “no knowledge of it” until Wednesday morning and believed Winston getting free food from the store was an “isolated incident.” He also said the school’s compliance department had been in touch with Publix.
“We did make contact with Publix back then to make sure there was nothing going on … talking to our compliance this morning. They had communications about that before, and they’ve had communications today,” Fisher said. “They think it’s a totally isolated incident that happened. They’re in the process of working with it right now. They don’t think it’s anything else more than that.”
Meanwhile, Winston, the 2013 Heisman Trophy winner, is projected to be a first round pick in next week’s NFL draft.
For more Florida State news, visit Warchant.com.
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Sam Cooper is a contributor for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!
