Jameis Winston, the talented Florida State quarterback, is now suspended for the entire game against Clemson on Saturday. Winston was suspended by Florida State University last week for just half of the upcoming Clemson game. (Presumably that meant the first half. Or maybe just the second and fourth quarters, depending on how Florida State was doing?) Florida State treats Jameis Winston like permissive parents treat a transgressive child–(literally) half punishments, not very strictly enforced. You’ve met those children later in life. They suck as human beings. So Florida State Interim President Garnett Stokes and Athletic Director Stan Wilson just announced that after reviewing Winston’s alleged behavior, they have “decided not to play him for the entire game against Clemson on Saturday night.” But how guilty is Jameis Winston?
Is Florida State caught up in a wave of political correctness and football behavior fatigue stemming from the horror of recent NFL revelations? According to AP Jameis Winston “shouted a lascivious comment that may have derived from an internet meme.” His offense is elsewhere described as “offensive and vulgar comments about the female anatomy.” That’s not nice, but it’s not exactly Ray Rice and Adrian Peterson. It’s tough for “parents” like FSU, a school that derives huge amounts of cold cash from pimping out its football team. Jameis Winston is a big part of what FSU is selling. To give an idea of why a half-game suspension was the original solution, consider this: Florida State was a 20 point favorite before Winston’s half game suspension was announced. That dropped to 14 on the news. With Winston’s full game suspension in place, the spread will drop even more.
