Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston made a mistake, but the bigger mistake would be to let that define him.
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Whenever an NFL player makes a mistake in the public eye, it gets magnified. When you are an NFL quarterback, it is magnified larger. When you have a past, like Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston, it becomes an even bigger deal.
But that doesn’t make it right. The situation needs to be looked at on its own merits. Let’s talk about that.
Tom Jones of the Tampa Bay Times reported last night about a situation that occurred during a visit that Winston made to a local elementary school. He was there to bring a positive message to the kids, and we all know that can be difficult. He went to inspire the kids, let them know that they can do whatever they put their minds to. Then the message turned inadvertently when Winston said the following (per the Tampa Bay Times):
"“All my young boys, stand up. The ladies, sit down,” Winston said. “But all my boys, stand up. We strong, right? We strong! We strong, right? All my boys, tell me one time: I can do anything I put my mind to. Now a lot of boys aren’t supposed to be soft-spoken. You know what I’m saying? One day y’all are going to have a very deep voice like this (in deep voice). One day, you’ll have a very, very deep voice.“But the ladies, they’re supposed to be silent, polite, gentle. My men, my men (are) supposed to be strong. I want y’all to tell me what the third rule of life is: I can do anything I put my mind to. Scream it!”"
Some took that the wrong way and apparently were quite uncomfortable by it. The perception was that Winston was putting down the girls to bring up the boys.
Watch the video of the situation, which is embedded in the Tampa Bay Times article linked above. This was not the focus of the message in any way. The message was that kids can do anything they want to do. We must look at the totality of the message, not nitpick at individual words and phrases. This is a football player, not a speech writer.
Now, am I excusing those words? Absolutely not. Especially since there were children that were noticeably upset by them. To an elementary school student, these words are telling the girls they are less important than the boys. They don’t have the understanding that adults do, they are children. Winston has to be more careful with the words that he chooses. Being in the moment is not an excuse.
However, that doesn’t mean the words were INTENDED that way. He needed to, and did, apologize for the perception. His intent, however, was far different. The adults need to step in and explain to the children what he meant, rather than simply sit in horror.
To take it further, Jones writes that the past makes the situation worse:
"Let’s also address the elephant in the room: Winston’s past at Florida State in a sexual assault accusation. Fairly or unfairly, that is a part of Winston’s story and that means he must be even more careful when talking about how boys and girls are treated and viewed and should act."
Frankly, that is simply unfair. The young man was spending his own time interacting in the community. He went out to a needy elementary school to inspire them. Under that scenario, one would have to believe that he made that energy up and went in there to tell these kids that they aren’t good enough if they are girls.
Does that make any sense? Of course not. I understand the concept of a person having “baggage”, but we cannot let that consume every interaction we have with them. Situations have to be able to exist independent of the past, otherwise we can never move on.
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Jameis Winston made a mistake and he apologized for it. The world should be able to leave it at that.