Here’s a guy head and torso above his competition, knee deep in accolades, and the only reason he’s not ear deep is because he’s only a freshman. When asked how old he felt, he responded to the much older reporter with, “I mean, sometimes the way I be walking around, I feel like I’m your age!”
Charismatic, lighthearted, and most important of them all—a leader.
This year’s Heisman Trophy ceremony was one of those that really should’ve only lasted about five minutes; it was obvious who the clear winner was.
“The 2013 Heisman Memorial Trophy winner,” the announcement at the podium started, everyone watching at home ready to simultaneously declare the name as it was said, “…Jameis Winston, Florida State University.”
Winston elatedly stood up, though you could tell he was just waiting to all evening. So was everybody else. Winston’s 2,205 to 704 point tally over second place candidate AJ McCarron was the fifth greatest margin of victory in the history of the Heisman Trophy. Oh, but that’s a tree in the forest of feats he’s accomplished this past year.
Those accolades upon prestigious accolades he’s accumulated thus far would be an obstacle great enough to trap him if stacked around him, but it’s nothing this elusive quarterback can’t step through and escape. Whether it’s the honors or praising notice he’s received, its mile-long list of them embodies his electrifying freshman campaign of college football—college in general, for that matter.
He has entered college as a 4.0 high school student, according to his former coach. In Florida State’s classrooms, he’s maintained his membership on the 3.0 GPA Club.
On the field, Winston became the first freshman ever to be named ACC Player of the Year. He won the Davey O’Brien National Quarterback Award and the Walter Camp Award. Winston’s reverberation of his exploding-onto-the-scene success was finally capped off with the eminent Heisman Trophy. At 19 years old, he became the youngest player to win the award in its 79-year history.
“There’s no age limit on being a great player,” Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher said. Oh, Winston’s NFL resume, trophy room, and astronomical numbers can speak for that.
Regardless of age, a 3,820-yard, 38-touchdown year and 13-0 season— two of those 13 wins including a 51-14 clobbering over #3 Clemson and 41-14 thumping over #7 Miami—all seems too hard to argue with in any Heisman race.
The Seminoles’ Doak Campbell Stadium wasn’t the only field on campus Winston has thrown heat on though.
On the other field, he’s showcased his talents with baseball, a sport he could’ve played this past season in professionally. (No, I’m not kidding.) Had it not been for his desire to excel in both baseball and football, he could’ve followed through with his commitment as a pitcher and centerfielder to the Texas Rangers, the team that drafted him last year.
“I want to be better than Bo Jackson, hopefully,” Winston said during the Heisman festivities. As you may know, Jackson has been regarded as the greatest athlete to ever live. Having managed successful careers in both the NFL and MLB, he still remains the only athlete to be named an All-Star in two major American sports.
“I love the sport of baseball,” Winston adds, “so it was a strong consideration for me and my family [to go pro last year].”
Winston has had success in a multitude of facets paving his life’s future path for him. Unaware of the constant rumors of his sexual assault filed against him this past month, one would’ve never believed Winston’s had any chip on his shoulder, given the superlative positivity in his attitude.
He’s seemed to tune out all the nonsense.
All of his responses to questions about the investigation have veered more towards things along the lines of “continuing to work harder” on the field. He knew there was nothing to worry about. The state attorney, saying he didn’t have the evidence to convict Winston, declined to charge him earlier this month. End of story. For ‘Famous Jameis’, he knew it had ended a long time ago.
“I knew I did nothing wrong,” Winston said. “That’s why I knew I could respect the process and I’d eventually be vindicated.”
Jameis could finally focus on being ‘Famous’ for what built his image, not what slightly and momentarily deteriorated it. With the nagging affliction for the Seminoles’ quarterback in the past, the coach’s ongoing demand in Winston became highlighted with a prime example.
“One thing Coach [Jimbo] Fisher has always told me, especially through this process, [is] ‘For you to be a man, the kid in you must die,’” Winston said; that’s a lot to ask for from an outgoing teenager in college. “I believe that kid in me has died. I’m always going to have my personality. I’m always going to have my character. But I have to become a man.”
That’s one of the hardest balances to manage at that age! How’d he do, coach?
“The true mark of a man,” Fisher said, “is when you have your own individual issues, but you have a team to lead like a family, and he never let those get in the way of the rest of our players reaching their goals as a team.”
It’ll truly take a “man” he so asks for to lead his team to a BCS Championship against this Auburn defense. And there’s no question of the competence there.
“We’ve never seen a freshman provide this kind of leadership,” ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit said of Winston.
Deep past the impossible-to-miss label of skill and iconic intangibles lies the one risk any coach certainly feels apprehensive about in a freshman quarterback: leadership. With Winston’s peaking progression in that trait throughout the year now checking off, it looks like the entire checklist for his Heisman player is complete heading into the big game.
Fisher should satisfyingly crumple that up and like his chances.