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Former MLB and NFL great Bo Jackson told Jim Rome on Oct. 14 he gave Jameis Winston — a two-sport star at Florida State — some career advice after the latter was suspended from his baseball team. Winston is currently embroiled in a scandal which alleges he received money for signing autographs. Jackson told Rome, “Jameis Winston needs to make some changes in his life.”
Bo Jackson offered some fatherly advice to Florida State Seminoles quarterback Jameis Winston on The Jim Rome Show on Oct. 14.
Jackson told Rome (via Yahoo Sports‘ Nick Bromberg) that Winston, who is currently embroiled in an autograph-for-money scandal, that he “needs to make some changes in his life”:
“Bo Jackson doesn’t approve of the way Jameis Winston has been acting.
“The former two-sport star and 1985 Heisman Trophy winner said Tuesday on The Jim Rome Show that he’s given Winston advice. Winston and Jackson both grew up in Bessemer, Ala. He said he talked with Winston after he was suspended from FSU’s baseball team. But hasn’t spoke with him since.
“‘I really don’t know who is giving this youg man guidance,’ Jackson said. ‘I have attempted — I have communicated with him and I just talked with him like I was his dad. The things that you need to do. And this was before the incident where he was (suspended) from the baseball team and to be honest with you I really haven’t talked with with him since. I am the type of person, I will go out of my way to help anybody.
“But if you don’t take my advice — normally I don’t like giving people advice if I haven’t been down that road myself. But if I give you advice on something that I know more about than you by just falling out of bed in the morning, if you can’t take that advice and learn from it, I’ve got nothing else to do with the situation. You’re on your own. ‘
“Winston is currently facing a Florida State code of conduct hearing for his role in an alleged sexual assault in Dec. 2012 though he was never charged with a crime. The suspension from the baseball team was after he took crab legs and crawfish from a grocery store in the spring. He was suspended for a game against Clemson in September for standing on a table in the student union and yelling an obscene phrase, and he’s also reportedly been involved in two BB gun incidents.
“Jackson, while admitting he wasn’t a saint himself, said he knew he needed to keep himself on the straight and narrow because of his status as a popular figure. While all of the incidents at Florida State haven’t seemed to derail his focus on the field, NFL teams are taking note.
“‘Jameis Winston needs to make some changes in his life,’ Jackson said. ‘Because it’s affecting him now and it’s definitely going to affect him down the road.’
“Rome also asked Jackson what he told Jameis. He declined to elaborate on the specific topics of the discussion.
“‘That’s between Jameis and myself,’ Jackson said. ‘If I told you what I told him, it’ll probably singe the hairs in your ears.'”
Bo Jackson on Jameis Winston: ‘I really don’t know who is giving this young man guidance’ http://t.co/HsxUmBDsuU pic.twitter.com/y1hFEFMPG3— SB✯Nation CFB (@SBNationCFB) October 16, 2014
Aside from sharing the same hometown, an Oct. 15 ESPN update enumerates Jackson’s and Winston’s other similarities:
“Both captured the Heisman Trophy, with Jackson winning in 1985 as a star running back at Auburn and Winston claiming the award as a freshman last year.
“And both have succeeded in multiple sports. Jackson played in the NFL and MLB before a hip injury ended his professional career, and Winston also pitches for the Seminoles baseball team.
“But evidently, their common ground has done little to sway Winston, who has been at the center of more controversy in the past week. Florida State announced Friday that it will conduct a hearing to determine whether he violated the school’s conduct code during an alleged sexual assault in December 2012. After the university’s compliance department is looking into why more than 950 items with Winston’s signature were authenticated.
“Jackson knows Winston has to change.
“‘I will lend you a hand. And if you take that hand for granted, I will yank it back and go about my business, go on about my life. That’s how it is,’ he told ‘The Jim Rome Show.'”
Jim Rome’s full interview with Jackson can be listened to here.
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