Many gave Jameis Winston a restrained round of applause for the self-awareness displayed as he posed in Buccaneers gear with a plate of crab legs. But not everyone feels that way about the gesture.
Perhaps starting with the woman in the background of the photo, whose face has an expression that suggests, “Is he really doing this?”
The Buccaneers and/or Winston’s lawyers may have been thinking the same thing. And someone has apparently persuaded Winston that it wasn’t the smartest thing to do. Via TheBigLead.com, the photo has now been deleted.
If Winston’s only off-field blemish arose from his saunter through the front door of the official grocery store of the Buccaneers with a box of appendages that usually move sideways, it would have been fine. But Winston has too many issues. And that many issues begin to intertwine. And one of those issues is a lingering sexual-assault allegation that has become a civil lawsuit that isn’t going to disappear simply because he’s now in the NFL.
So when Winston pokes fun at the crab-leg caper specifically he’s poking fun at his off-field issues generally. Which means he’s poking fun indirectly at a pending claim of sexual assault that will be the opposite of fun once he ends up under oath and on video trying to talk his way around questions from a lawyer who has spent years dealing with people who thought they could charm their way out of any problem.
It may not go as poorly as Justin Bieber’s deposition, but there’s a chance that Winston’s inevitable question-and-answer session won’t go as well as he’ll think it’s going. And one of the devices that Erica Kinsman’s lawyers will use to get under Winston’s skin will be the photo of Jameis with a Buccaneers jersey on his back, a Buccaneers hat on his head, and a plate of crab legs in his hands.