The Tampa Bay Buccaneers drafted former Florida State Seminoles quarterback Jameis Winston with the first overall pick back in the 2015 draft. Unfortunately for both parties, the marriage didn’t quite result in the results they had hoped as the Bucs eventually moved on from Winston following the 2019 season, eventually landing the most coveted free agent in NFL history Tom Brady.
While the results on the field didn’t net success in Tampa Bay, Jameis Winston has been successful afterwards in part due to his personality.
Winston was mired by his turnovers on the field but was a great presence in the locker room and stole the hearts around the league for his joyous, fun loving demeanor that he carried with him no matter what was happening around him. Winston’s popularity across the NFL didn’t happen immediately, but it began with a pregame speech where he implored his team to “eat a W” when they faced off against their division rivals in the New Orleans Saints.
The clip quickly made its rounds across social media and the moment has since been memed countless times. Winston has now become one of the most recognizable figures in the game despite being a backup quarterback and amidst his coverage of the Super Bowl for FOX Sports, Winston explained the origin of eating a W during an appearance on Kickin’ It With Dee.
“I should have never put [the W] in my mouth,” Winston said. “When I think about it, I definitely shouldn’t have tried to dap up Desean [Jackson] after.”
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Needless to say Jameis, amongst the rest of the world, believes that the speech could have been handled a bit better. While the speech has grown since then, it didn’t work out that great, as the Bucs ended up getting throttled by the Saints in the matchup.
Winston has become one of the most sought-after backup quarterbacks in the league after spending time with the New Orleans Saints and Cleveland Browns, but he’s now a free agent and available to sign wherever he pleases this offseason. This week leading up to the Super Bowl, Winston has taken over the NFL with his coverage of the events leading up to it and he’ll clearly have a space in the media realm once he decides to hang up the cleats.
