Early life

Winston was born in Bessemer, Alabama on January 6, 1994. He attended Hueytown High School, where he played both football and baseball. Winston was considered the best dual-threat quarterback recruit in the nation by Rivals.com, the best overall QB recruit by ESPN. Winston was also named the MVP of the ESPN RISE Elite 11 quarterback camp. Additionally, Winston earned the Gatorade Player of the Year recognition, for the state of Alabama. He led Hueytown to a state championship during his junior year.

Winston committed to attend Florida State University on February 3, 2012. The Texas Rangers selected Winston in the 15th round of the 2012 Major League Baseball Draft out of high school. Though the Rangers proposed allowing him to play for the Florida State Seminoles football team while working out with their baseball organization, Winston decided not to sign.

College career

Football

Winston redshirted during the 2012 college football season behind senior quarterback EJ Manuel.

2013 season

Prior to the 2013 season, Winston was named Florida State's starting quarterback. In his college debut, he completed 25 of 27 passes with four passing touchdowns along with a rushing touchdown against the University of Pittsburgh.

Winston helped lead the team to an undefeated 13-0 regular season record, including a 45-7 victory in the ACC Championship against Duke.

Winston won the Heisman Trophy on December 14, 2013, beating out quarterbacks AJ McCarron, Jordan Lynch, and Johnny Manziel, the previous winner, as well as running backs Tre Mason and Andre Williams. He became the second freshman to win the award, after Manziel won the previous year. He also became the youngest to win the award, at 19 years and 342 days.

On January 6, 2014, Winston's 20th birthday, Florida State defeated Auburn 34-31 in the 2014 BCS National Championship Game. Winston was named the Offensive MVP of the game after passing for 235 yards with two touchdowns. Winston finished his freshman season with 4,057 passing yards and 40 passing touchdowns, which set an ACC record and a Division I Football Bowl Subdivision freshman record.

2014 season

Winston started 13 games his redshirt sophomore season. He did not play in one game due to suspension. After a 13-0 regular season, the Seminoles were selected to play in the 2015 Rose Bowl, a semifinal game in the College Football Playoff, against Oregon. Oregon would win the game 59-20, giving Winston his only loss as a starter during his college career. Winston finished the season with 3,907 passing yards and 25 touchdowns.

After the season, Winston entered the 2015 NFL Draft. He finished his career 26-1 as a starter and completed 562 of 851 passes for 7,964 yards, 65 touchdowns and 28 interceptions.

College stats

Florida State Seminoles
Year	Team	Pass Completions	Pass Attempts	Completion %	Pass Yards	Pass TDs	INT	Rush Attempts	Rush Yards	Rush Avg	Rush TDs
2013	Florida State	257	384	66.9%	4,057	40	10	77	193	2.51	4
2014	Florida State	305	467	65.4%	3,907	25	18	57	65	1.2	3
College Totals		562	851	66.0%	7,964	65	28	134	258	1.93	7

Awards and honors

• Heisman Trophy (2013)
• Walter Camp Award (2013)
• Manning Award (2013)
• Archie Griffin Award (2013)
• AP Player of the Year (2013)
• Sporting News Player of the Year (2013)
• BCS National Championship (2014)
• BCS National Championship Offensive MVP (2014)
• Orange Bowl champion (2013)
• Consensus All-American (2013)
• 2x First-team All-ACC (2013,2014)
• ACC Player of the Year (2013)
• ACC Offensive Player of the Year (2013)
• ACC Rookie of the Year (2013)
• ACC Offensive Rookie of the Year (2013)
• ACC Athlete of the Year (2014)
• College Football Performance National Freshman of the Year (2013)
• ACC Championship Game MVP (2013)
• 3x ACC Championship (2012, 2013, 2014)
• USA Today High School All-American (2011)

Baseball

Winston chose Florida State in part because he was allowed to play for the Florida State Seminoles baseball team in addition to football. A switch-hitting batter and a right-handed thrower, he played as an outfielder and a pitcher as a freshman in 2013. He batted .235 with a .723 on-base plus slugging in 119 at-bats and had a 3.00 earned run average in 27 innings pitched. Prior to the 2014 season, Winston was named a preseason All-American by Baseball America as a 3rd team utility player.

College stats

Florida State Seminoles
Year	Team	IP	W	L	SV	ERA	SO	BB	BA	H	R	HR	RBI	BB	SLG/OBP
2013	Florida State	27.0	1	2	2	3.00	21	12	.235	28	21	0	9	22	.345/.377
2014	Florida State	33.1	1	0	7	1.08	31	7	.128	5	6	0	4	8	.179/.292
College Totals		60.1	2	2	9	1.95	62	19	.208	33	27	0	13	30	.---/.---

Professional career

NFL Draft

Pre-draft measurables

Ht	Wt	Arm length	Hand size	40-yd dash	10-yd split	20-yd split	20-ss	3-cone	Vert	Broad	BP	Wonderlic
6 ft 3¾ in	231 lb	32 in	9⅜ in	4.97 s	1.74 s	2.89 s	4.36 s	7.16 s	28½ in	8 ft 7 in		27

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers took Winston first overall in the 2015 NFL Draft.

On May 1, 2015, Winston signed a four-year, $23.35 million contract with the Buccaneers, with a $16.7 million signing bonus. The contract prevents him from playing any other sport than football.

2015 season

Winston's career began with a rocky start against the Tennessee Titans with his first professional pass being intercepted and returned for a touchdown by Coty Sensabaugh, the first time a rookie's first pass was returned for a pick-6 since Brett Favre in 1991.

On November 22, 2015 against the Philadelphia Eagles Winston tied an NFL rookie, and Buccaneers franchise, record with 5 touchdown passes.

Winston set franchise rookie records in pass attempts, pass completions, passing yards, and passing touchdowns. Winston finished his rookie season with 4,042 passing yards, finishing 23 yards short of the franchise record set by Josh Freeman in 2012. Winston also became the third rookie quarterback to pass over 4,000 yards in a season.

Following his team's loss in the AFC Championship game, New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady elected not to participate in the 2016 Pro Bowl; as a result Winston was selected to his first Pro Bowl game making him the first rookie QB in Buccaneers' history to be selected.

Career stats

Source: NFL

Season	Team	Games		Passing										Rushing				Fumbles
		GP	GS	Comp	Att	Pct	Yds	Avg	TD	Int	Sck	SckY	Rate	Att	Yds	Avg	TD	FUM	Lost
2015	TB	16	16	312	535	58.3	4,042	7.6	22	15	27	190	84.2	54	213	3.9	6	6	2
	Total	16	16	312	535	58.3	4,042	7.6	22	15	27	190	84.2	54	213	3.9	6	6	2

NFL Records

• Most passing touchdowns in a single game by a rookie quarterback: 5 (tied with Ray Buivid and Matthew Stafford)
• Youngest player, 3000 yards passing: (21 years, 342 days) Dec 13, 2015
• Youngest player, 4000 yards passing: (21 years, 362 days) Jan 3, 2016

Buccaneers franchise records

• Most passing touchdowns in a game - 5 (tied) (November 22, 2015 vs. Philadelphia Eagles)
• Most passing touchdowns by a rookie - 22
• Most passing yards by a rookie - 4,042
• Most rushing touchdowns by a quarterback in a season - 6

Controversies

BB gun complaint

In 2012, Winston and another FSU player were held by campus police for allegedly bringing a BB gun on campus and firing at squirrels. Officers handcuffed Winston but he was later released when it was noticed he was not on campus and the gun was just a BB gun. No charges were filed against Winston in this incident.

Sexual assault allegation

On November 14, 2013, the State Attorney of the Second Judicial Circuit announced they were opening an investigation into a sexual assault allegation involving Winston that was originally filed with the Tallahassee Police Department (TPD) on December 7, 2012. The complaint was originally investigated by the police and classified as open/inactive in February 2013 with no charges being filed. The police report, containing the complainant's original statement, has been posted by the Tallahassee Police Department. Tallahassee police stated that the complaint was made inactive "when the victim in the case broke off contact with TPD, and her attorney indicated she did not want to move forward at that time" and then re-examined after media requests for information started coming in early November. On December 5, 2013, State Attorney Willie Meggs announced the completion of the investigation and that no charges would be filed against anyone in this case, citing "major issues" with the woman's testimony. Meggs stated that "As prosecutors, we only bring charges for cases where the evidence will result in a likely conviction at trial. In this case, the evidence does not show that." Allegations of improper police conduct have been made by both parties, with the complainant claiming to have been pressured into dropping her claim and Winston's attorney alleging inappropriate leaks to the media. Florida State's policy is that athletes charged with a felony cannot play until their case is resolved, but Winston continued to play throughout the investigation because he was never charged.

On April 16, 2014, The New York Times reported irregularities in the rape investigation involving Winston. The complainant developed bruises and semen was found on her underwear. 34 days later the complainant identified Winston by name as her attacker. Tallahassee police contacted Winston about 13 days later. No DNA sample was taken from Winston until the prosecutor took over the case, months later; once it was taken in November 2013, it was found to match DNA found in the complainant's underwear. The investigation was conducted by Officer Scott Angulo, who, the Times' article notes, did private security work for the Seminole Boosters, the primary financier of Florida State athletics.

The official FSU hearing, presided over by retired Florida Supreme Court Justice Major B. Harding, on December 21, 2014, cleared Winston of violating the student conduct code in the sexual assault allegation. An extract from Harding's decision is below.

I do not find the credibility of one story substantially stronger than that of the other. Both have their own strengths and weaknesses. I cannot find with any confidence that the events as set forth by you, (accuser), or a particular combination thereof is more probable than not as required to find you responsible for a violation of the Code. Therein lies the determinative factor of my decision.

The accuser, Erica Kinsman (who has publicly identified herself), filed a civil suit against Winston in April 2014 and Winston countersued her for defamation and tortious interference in May 2014. In a September 2015 ruling, federal judge Anne C. Conway dismissed Winston's tortious interference claim, but declined a motion to dismiss his claim for defamation. Winston's and Kinsman's suits were combined and are scheduled for the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida to begin in May 2017.

In November 2015, Winston told CNN that he was prepared to file suit if the network airs The Hunting Ground, a documentary about college campus rape which includes disputed allegations about Winston. An edited version aired on CNN on November 22, 2015.

Edward Patrick Alva, a crew member on The Hunting Ground, was found to heavily interfere and maliciously manipulate with various sections on Jameis' wikipedia page in regards to these sexual assault claims.

In 2016, the university paid almost a million dollars to settle the lawsuit.

Shoplifting incidents

In July 2013, a Burger King employee called police in July to complain that Winston was stealing soda. According to the police report, Winston came in to the restaurant with three men, but did not order any food. An employee, who recognized him, first saw him using ketchup cups to take some soda. He asked for a water cup after she told him to stop, but he said he would use it for soda and filled it repeatedly with soda over her objections, the report said. On April 29, 2014, Winston was issued an adult civil citation for shoplifting crab legs from a Tallahassee Publix store. Winston was ordered to undergo 20 hours of community service and was suspended from any college baseball activity until he completed his community service.

Vulgar comments

On September 17, 2014, Winston was suspended for the first half of Florida State's upcoming game against Clemson. The Guardian reported that "several students tweeted" that Winston shouted, "Fuck her right in the pussy!" an Internet meme, while standing atop a table in Florida State University's Student Union. Two days later, university president Garnett S. Stokes and athletic director Stan Wilcox, citing results of an "ongoing investigation", announced that Winston would be suspended for the whole game.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]