As the past two Heisman trophy winners, 2012’s Johnny Manziel of Texas A&M and 2013’s Jameis Winston of Florida State University, became muddled in scandal following their wins, maybe it shouldn’t be such a sought after award after all…
Photo Credit: Joshua S. Kelly/USA Today Sports/Reuters
Florida State University quarterback, and current holder of the Heisman Trophy, Jameis Winston, was notified by FSU school officials on Friday that he will be facing a disciplinary hearing to further investigate whether he sexually assaulted another FSU student in December of 2012. Winston could be facing as many as four violations of the university’s student code of conduct, two of which involve sexual assault.
However, the steps that Florida State University’s interim president, Garnett Stokes, and vice president for student affairs, Mary B. Coburn, are taking could be considered too little, too late. In a report released by Fox Sports on Friday night, reporter Kevin Vaughan alleges that university officials and the Tallahassee Police Department “took steps to both hide, and then hinder, the criminal investigation into a rape allegation against the school’s Heisman-trophy winning quarterback.”
The report released by Fox Sports claimed that the university’s police chief obtained records and forwarded them to Winston’s attorney four days before State Attorney William Meggs received anything. Additionally, two key witnesses in the case discussed what they remembered with Winston’s attorney, and signed affidavits affirming Winston’s version of the story, before Tallahassee police had a chance to take a statement from them.
Administrators at Florida State University are already the subject of an ongoing federal investigation. alleging that their handling of the case directly violated the gender equality law known as Title IX. This federal law mandates that schools receiving federal funding must conduct prompt investigations into allegations of sexual assault. If what Fox Sports reported is the truth, however, FSU’s misdeeds and mishandling of the case would put them in violation of the law.
Winston has five school days to contact the University’s Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities to schedule a hearing, during which he will be informed of his rights and the impending student hearing. The student conduct hearing will determine whether or not Winston will be charged with a crime.
This case only looks to get uglier as time progresses, and one can only wonder what such a tarnished image will mean for both Jameis Winston’s football career and the state of Florida State University’s football program. The New York Times recently published an article showing the many times FSU failed to punish student athletes.
