Jameis Winston: Johnny Manziel was under more pressure
By Mike Dyce
Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston has found himself in the spotlight for both the good and the bad. He won a Heisman Trophy while leading the Seminoles to a BCS National Championship, but he was also caught up in an investigation into an alleged sexual assault and some petty theft.
Despite the spotlight on Winston, he still thinks Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel, now with the Cleveland Browns, was under more pressure.
“I have some online classes and I have some [regular] classes, but in Johnny’s case, I mean, he was getting heckled at Texas A&M,” Winston said Friday at the Manning Passing Academy. “They didn’t have a player like him. He’s electric, he’s a great person to be around, he’s a fun guy. Of course, he attracts people to him.
“At Florida State, our fan base isn’t like that. We are to ourselves. We’ve got a bunch of foreign girls and foreign boys that don’t know [anything] about football. In College Station, they live and breathe that, so he was their idol. People wanted to be around him, so of course it was harder.”
Of course Manziel has been caught doing some interesting things over the summer thanks to social media and camera phones. Whether it is lying on an inflatable swan in a pool at a club or rolling up a dollar bill in a bathroom, Manziel has been caught doing some odd and eyebrow raising things.
Winston has had his run ins with trouble as well, most recently for allegedly stealing crab legs from a grocery store. If there is one thing that all of his experiences, and Manziel’s, as taught him, it is to be more cognizant of cellphones.
“I’m very aware of that, but it’s my job to hold myself to a certain standard,” Winston said, “so that when people do look at me, they see a great young man and they see a man [whose] parents raised right.
“… It’s more of a spotlight now. But that’s something that comes with being a quarterback. It’s the most scrutinized and praised position in sports. I admire Johnny. Johnny’s going to have a great time, or a great career, in the NFL, from my perspective.”