Jameis Winston reportedly ‘shadowed’ by NFL team on flight

By Ethan Finkelstein | Apr 1, 2015

Feb 21, 2015; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Florida State Seminoles quarterback Jameis Winston throws a pass during the 2015 NFL Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports /

Reports are coming in that projected number one overall NFL Draft pick Jameis Winston was “shadowed” by an unnamed NFL team.

It would appear that one NFL team has decided to give Jameis Winston a “Mission Impossible” style welcome into the league. According to reports, the former Heisman Trophy Award winning quarterback out of Florida State was “shadowed” while on a flight either to or from the annual league scouting combine.

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The initial reports come courtesy of Yahoo’s Charles Robinson, who states that it was Winston’s QB coach George Whitfield who broke the story. He himself had originally been notified of the covert scouting by a representative of the alleged franchise.

That is certainly one way to keep tabs on the guy.

Winston’s character has been the subject of major conversation leading up to this year’s NFL Draft, where the former Florida State quarterback is expected to be taken with the number one overall selection by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Back when he was with the Seminoles, Winston was charged with sexual assault against another student in late 2013, for an incident that had allegedly occurred the previous school year. Ultimately, the case was dropped. The stigma, however, remains nevertheless.

In April of 2014, Winston was caught shoplifting from a Publix store near campus, and was sentences to 20 hours of community service for stealing crab legs. Later that year, in September, he was suspended for one game due to vulgar comments made inside of the FSU student union.

While he remains a tremendous talent behind center, Winston’s previous transgressions have likely left team owners, GMs, and scouts all taking the same attitude of “prove to us you are mature enough for this league.”

Since the end of the 2014 college football season, he has done a pretty decent job of maintaining a low profile outside of football related activities. A few months back, Winston deleted his official Twitter account, as to remain more focused on the upcoming draft.

Now, it would appear that the guy is prioritizing football and his family. Due to his grandmother’s type 2 diabetes, she cannot travel to Chicago, where the upcoming draft is being held on April 30th. It is because of this that Winston may not even attend the event himself.

Winston told the NFL Network, “We haven’t made that decision yet, but my grandmother can’t travel, and … she’s been my life.”

H/T Sports Illustrated

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