Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston left the NFL Scouting Combine last week as a big winner. He not only threw well on the turf of Lucas Oil Stadium, but got out of Indianapolis relatively unscathed after facing questions about his off-the-field issues from media and clubs alike.
While teams like the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Tennessee Titans, who pick first and second overall, respectively, are expected to do even more detailed reviews of Winston's character in the coming weeks and months, the signal-caller's former coach, Jimbo Fisher, had a surprising answer Friday when he was asked what Winston had told him about the question he was asked the most by NFL teams at the combine.
"He said 'You know, not a lot of people harped on (the allegations).' The biggest one he said was standing on the table and the other one. They kind of hit him that way and with football questions," Fisher told "The Rich Eisen Show." "He was just immature and made a bad choice."
Winston was accused of a sexual assault stemming from a December 2012 incident but did not face criminal charges and was cleared by the university after a Code of Conduct hearing. That incident is the most serious involving Winston, and as such, one would think it would draw the most attention from NFL teams during their interviews with Winston. Of course, it wasn't the only incident involving Winston that drew negative attention to him during his time at Florida State.
Video showed Winston shoplifting crab legs from a local grocery store last spring. The quarterback was also suspended for Florida State's game against Clemson last season after he stood atop a table inside the FSU student union and shouted an obscenity.
Most NFL Media analysts believe Winston will be the No. 1 overall pick in the 2015 NFL Draft, but questions about his maturity and life off the field will likely dog him well past his rookie year as a result of some of the things that happened during his time in Tallahassee.
You can follow Bryan Fischer on Twitter at @BryanDFischer.
