Jameis Winston's fiery halftime speech to his alma mater, Florida State, on Monday night was a spontaneous one, and perhaps not even necessary, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback said on Wednesday. The Seminoles played Ole Miss in Orlando, and Winston was on the FSU sideline during an ugly first half for his former team. Trailing 28-13 at the break, FSU rallied for a 45-34 win.
"I just didn't want those kids to be looking like that on national TV," Winston said. "Coach (Jimbo) Fisher, he's a great coach and I knew they had it in them. Just had to light some fire. Tell you about that No. 12 (Deondre Francois) for Florida State, baby. He's a baller."
Francois, a freshman quarterback, led the comeback on offense, passing for 419 yards and a pair of touchdowns in his career debut. Defensively, pass rusher DeMarcus Walker recorded 4.5 sacks -- all in the second half -- to spark the Seminoles defense. FSU looked like an entirely different team in the first half, however, and trailed at one point 28-6.
"I couldn't even give you a summary of what I said. It was truly just from the heart, because I love those guys in there," Winston said. "I knew how hard coach (Jimbo) Fisher worked to prepare those guys.
"... That's what I felt was needed. I tried to be quiet when I first got there, but I felt we needed that. I really don't think they needed it. I think coach (Jimbo) Fisher was going to get in their tail -- like he could barely talk -- but he was still getting on them. I just felt like I needed to say that."
With the Buccaneers opening the season on Sunday against the Falcons, FSU won't have the luxury of its former Heisman Trophy winner on its sideline Saturday night. But if the Seminoles need another speech at the half against Charleston Southern, they have bigger problems than Winston can solve.
*Follow Chase Goodbread on Twitter **@ChaseGoodbread*.
