Lovie Smith disagrees with Bobby Bowden on Jameis Winston
Lovie Smith, the coach who drafted Jameis Winston No. 1 overall in the 2015 NFL draft, didn’t like what former Florida State coach Bobby Bowden said about the quarterback.
Tuesday, Bowden said that the consensus among many Florida State fans was that Winston was an embarrassment “in a lot of ways” to the school.
“I’m disappointed. To say that the young man is an ’embarrassment?’ That’s pretty strong,” The head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers said via TampaBay.com. “I just don’t think he’s speaking for all of Florida State, even though he’s in an official role there. Normally, what we’re doing today with our greats, you (embrace) them. Everybody on the outside may be throwing stones at them. Normally, when you’re in a family, you don’t do that. I’m very disappointed that somebody like that would make that type of statement.”
Winston was accused of sexual assault (and never charged with a crime or code of conduct violation), received a citation for shoplifting, suspended a game for shouting an obscene phrase and reportedly involved in incidents with BB guns in his time at Florida State. He also won the 2013 Heisman Trophy and led FSU to the 2014 BCS Championship over Auburn.
Smith clearly felt comfortable enough with Winston’s character to draft him with the first pick, and because of it, his defense of Winston is hardly surprising. It’d be a pretty big stunner if Smith supported what Bowden had said about the man who the Bucs hope is the face of the franchise for the foreseeable future. And a face of the franchise that’s more known for his success on the field than for his actions off of it.
“We do not see (Winston) as an embarrassment by any means,” Smith also said. “He meant an awful lot to Florida State. I would never say that. The essential people at Florida State we talked to and no one said (Winston) was an embarrassment. It was the complete opposite, starting with Jimbo Fisher, their current football coach. That’s why I say I can’t believe it.”
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Nick Bromberg is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
