At a Friday afternoon media session before Saturday night’s Heisman Trophy ceremony in New York, each of the finalists were asked questions about their candidacy and their seasons, including Florida State’s Jameis Winston – the favorite to win the award.
Early on, Winston was asked about playing two sports (he plays baseball at Florida State too), and he said that he wants to be better than Bo Jackson, the Auburn star who went on to play in the NFL and MLB.
Jameis Winston on his future as a two sport athlete: "I want to be better than Bo Jackson, hopefully."
— Chris Huston (@HeismanPundit) December 13, 2013
Soon after, the inevitable questions about being accused of a sexual assault were asked, and the Florida State public relations people were not too pleased about that. According to tweets from several media members, FSU’s SID cut Winston’s session short due to the “line of questioning” from a few reporters.
Less than three minutes into Jameis Winston press availability, already two admonishments from Florida State SID about line if questioning — Dan Wolken (@DanWolken) December 13, 2013
Winston got 3 questions that were somewhat related to the investigation before FSU media cut that line off.
— Ralph D. Russo (@ralphDrussoAP) December 13, 2013
The other candidates apparently faced multiple rounds of questioning from reporters. Winston was whisked away quickly.
All the other candidates rotated through three short rounds of media questions. Winston was one and done. — Ralph D. Russo (@ralphDrussoAP) December 13, 2013
FSU SID cut Winston interviews short. Very stern attitude of Winston's handlers a sharp contrast with his outgoing personality.
— Chris Huston (@HeismanPundit) December 13, 2013
While understandable, that is kind of an odd strategy for the Florida State people to take. Winston has shown all season that he is very poised and outgoing toward the media. He has shown that he can answer tough questions. The questions about the investigation are inevitable, so why not take them head on?
About ten minutes after Winston was pulled away, he was brought back out for more questioning after the SID said there was a miscommunication about the media sessions. When brought back out, Winston was apparently asked a direct question about the investigation and handled it well.
Winston, part 2 is over. Before it started, Florida St. SID blamed it on "confusion" over having two different media sessions. — Dan Wolken (@DanWolken) December 13, 2013
He got one direct question about the investigation, and handled it very well.
— Ralph D. Russo (@ralphDrussoAP) December 13, 2013
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