INDIANAPOLIS – The buzz was that interviews with teams would be the most important part of the NFL scouting combine for Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston.
Based on how he handled his press conference on Friday, he’ll do just fine in that arena.
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Winston was remarkably confident and at ease during his nearly 12 minutes with the media. From his opening words about understanding the mistakes he has made off the field, he kept hammering home the same theme: That he will earn his next team’s trust by his actions moving forward.
“When I do get to a city, with a team, I plan on getting involved in the community and creating an image – a positive image – and put everything else behind me,” Winston said.
“My job as a quarterback is to be the face of a franchise. My job is to win games, hopefully win Super Bowls, and that’s a big responsibility. That’s a job up here. Whatever is behind me is behind me, so this is a new face.”
It won’t be so easy to put his past behind him. There was the silly allegation of stealing soda from the machine at a fast-food restaurant, the civil citation for stealing crab legs from a supermarket, and a very troubling sexual assault allegation at Florida State. No charges were brought in the latter case because there wasn’t sufficient evidence, and he was cleared in an FSU code of conduct hearing.
Winston talked about visiting an elementary school in Tallahassee and his 7-year-old brother, and how he realized that the bad headlines affected the children looking up to him. He didn’t mind laying it on a little thick.
“I’ve got so many people to inspire and I’ve got so many little kids looking up to me, not only as a quarterback but as a person,” Winston said. “I want to be that role model for them.”
Do you buy it? Winston sold himself incredibly well, and if teams aren’t totally put off by the allegations and incidents in his past, it’s easy to see them being smitten by how he can own a room. That’s a big intangible for any quarterback. He showed off a lot of charisma (he brought up a photo of him from weeks ago looking overweight and joked, “I look good and I know it,” to laughter from the media) and either confidence or arrogance, depending on how you viewed it. He was aware he's riding that fine line.
“I’m a confident person. People may buy that as arrogance,” Winston said. “But I’m just out there confident because when my team looks at me, they’re going to see a smile on my face because I’m going to tell them, 'You know what we’re capable of doing and we’re not going down with a loss.'"
His confidence isn’t lacking at all. He and Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota have been discussed as possibilities for the top pick, but Winston seemed to dismiss that competition a bit because he has bigger things in mind.
“This is not no competition just between me and Mariota. Because one thing about me, I plan on winning a Super Bowl in the next year,” Winston said. “So it’s going to be Jameis vs. Peyton Mannings and Jameis vs. Tom Bradys. I want to be viewed like that. After all this combine stuff, you’re not going to hear any more about Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota. But I want my name to remain relevant for the next 15, 20 years of my career.”
People talk about winning the press conference, and Winston did that on Friday. He laughed off concerns about weakness in his shoulder, saying he had an MRI like everyone else did and his shoulder feels great. He said he'll throw on Saturday at the combine because he's a competitor. Winston talked about what a privilege it would be for the Glazer family that owns the Buccaneers to make him the first pick – and as long as his shoulder issues are as much of a non-factor as he claims, that seems to be a logical outcome when the NFL draft starts.
Everyone wondered how Winston would react to answering questions about his past and his future at the combine, but he was as comfortable as could be when the moment came.
“This is what I dream of,” Winston said. “I dream of being a Hall of Famer some day. And I dream of being the face of someone’s franchise.”
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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdowncorner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @YahooSchwab
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