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| http://thegrio.com/2013/12/06/whats-next-for-florida-state-quarterback-jameis-winston/ |
Love him or hate him; and there really isn't an easy way to choose indifference with this kid, he seems to be cut from a special cloth.
Disclaimer: I am not a huge college football fan. What that means is, I haven't seen Jameis Winston play more than a few highlight reels on Sportscenter. Unless you are one of my local college teams, I have no real clue what makes you tick. Whenever the sports critics don't anticipate a championship run out of your team, they don't catch up to your success until long after you've proven yourself to them. In fact, some have already decided to resume the age old debate of:, "did one team lose this game or did the other team win it"?
The Auburn Tigers versus the Florida State Seminoles had all the trappings of two unsuspected participants. Would Auburn cap off a dream season, hell a miracle season (3-9 last year), with another miracle game, or was the highest scoring team in college football history going to overcome the distraction of a Heisman trophy winner with off field troubles? Would the SEC dominance over college football continue or would someone rise up and snatch that national championship from their firm grip?
On the periphery was another story of note. FSU against Auburn was the final game in the 20 year long BCS bowl series. The much maligned BCS selection system will now give way to a BCS playoff system. In other words, the same selection committee will pair the top four teams in a playoff before the championship game. We all know that money said yes to the playoff games in the end, but if the quality of this years national championship game is a sign of things to come, we should all be excited.
This game was one for the ages. Not for its clean quality of play either. For the most part this game was sloppily played. This game was an instant classic because it was the tale of two half's and the 21-10 lead that Auburn took into the half time locker room. The miracle (insert lucky)team quickly confirmed themselves as a serious challenger to the undefeated favorites, but not one that a good quarterback couldn't overcome.
Jameis Winston doesn't have a gun of an arm like Cam Newton. He is not fast like Michael Vick or Robert Griffin III or any other fast running brother who plays quarterback. He can run, but his speed is not very impressive at all and his feet are not a key weapon in his game. He is great at going through his progressions and he throws an accurate ball, but what makes him special is what makes all of the special ones special. He just wins baby.
Fan's of comeback players get excited when these type of players are down by 4 with 1:19 on the clock and a full field to navigate for a victory. These are the moments that legends are made of. Winston would declare that he probably got more respect from his team in that last drive to the end zone then he did the entire season. Carrying the weight of the world on his back, he proceeded to march down the football field like his shoulders were that of Atlas.
He had the rape haters and that super heavy Heisman to carry in the end. He had a perfect season and a record breaking statistical year on the line. He had championship expectations alongside SEC dominance to overcome. Did I mention that he was a first season, red-shirt freshman? Forget that it was his birthday.
In one of those special games (that usually involve kids), in which we did crown a final champion but had no losers, Winston was the biggest winner of them all. Not for his performance or for his statistics, but simply for his will to overcome every mountain, and to do it all with that smile.
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