Jameis Winston set Football Bowl Subdivision freshman records for touchdown passes, with 38, and passing yards, with 3,820. (Julio Cortez/Associated Press)
Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston spent the past week on college football’s postseason awards circuit, cycling through banquets and red carpets and trophy presentations. That culminated Saturday in Manhattan, where Winston won the Heisman Trophy, his sport’s pre-eminent honor.
Winston wrapped his arms around the Heisman Trophy late Saturday, after an hourlong television special in which the only suspense centered on how much he would win by. The assembled cheered loudly, and Winston hugged his parents and thanked God. At his news conference, Winston said that he had expected to win but that doubt had remained until he heard his name called.
Last December, a college student accused Winston of rape after a party. The accuser’s lawyer came forward a year later to say that the Tallahassee Police Department had pushed her not to press charges, and the lawyer held a news conference Friday to skewer the investigation. Winston’s lawyer has said that Winston and the accuser engaged in consensual sex.
Winston was not charged after a rape accusation that had clouded his season. Wherever Winston traveled, an accusation of rape clouded the celebration. Florida officials said this month that Winston would not be charged in the year-old case. But as the Seminoles wrapped up an undefeated season and their spot in the Bowl Championship Series title game, scrutiny of the investigation only intensified.