Jimbo Fisher explains why he didn't suspend Jameis Winston for crab leg incident
Florida State quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Jameis Winston found himself in some hot water back in April when he was issued a citation for shoplifting $32 worth of crab legs and crawfish.
The internet exploded as a result, with some finding the funny in the situation, while others wondered what kind of a punishment the Florida State football team would give to its star player.
Seminoles head coach Jimbo Fisher opted not to punish Winston and explained Monday during the ACC kickoff that his reason for doing so was simple. The baseball team already covered it.
"People need to realize, when you suspend him in baseball, you understand how important baseball is to him? That cut his heart out," Fisher said, via ESPN. "If it was done maliciously, we may have done other things. It was a silly mistake and not done with any malicious doing, and you don't punish a guy twice for the same crime."
Winston was suspended by the Florida State baseball team, ordered to reimburse the grocery store for the value of the food and had to perform community service as a result of the incident.
As a dual-sport athlete, Winston is in a different position than most. Fisher is right in the notion that it wouldn't make sense to punish Winston twice for the same offense, as that option wouldn't exist for a student-athlete that only played one sport.
While some may find it suspicious that the Seminoles didn't suspend Winston in the sport he is best known for, he was suspended from the sport he was active in during the time of the incident. The question of his intent may be disputable, but that fact is not.
Winston may also receive other, less noticeable discipline from Fisher, it's just not in the coach's nature to make smaller punishments public knowledge.
"Let me ask this: When your kids get in trouble at home, do you tell the neighborhood what you did to them?" Fisher said. "Kids are going to make mistakes. Nobody's perfect. Our whole thing at Florida State is teaching kids to make decisions.
"What you need to do is accept it, learn from it and don't repeat it. Everthing doesn't need to be known. Kids have to have room to grow as individuals. Everything is not out there. Do you whip your kids in public? Don't think anyone is more upset at them than we are, but also nobody cares more for them than we do. There's got to be some privacy for these kids to grow and develop as human beings."