SEC OPINIONS - FSU HAS SOME REAL PROBLEMS WITH WINSTON

FSU NEEDS TO ACT REGARDING WINSTON...

Is FSU's starting quarterback a rapist?  It's a question that needs to be addressed by FSU and the Florida State Attorney
Fisher needs to man up...
  

  

Some would call him a coward.

    It might be the biggest travesty in Florida judicial history if the State of Florida doesn't arrest Jameis Winston. It will be an even bigger travestry if the President of FSU allows this to continue.  My bet is both will not happen unless FSU happens to lose a game on the road to the national championship game. If FSU doesn't act then whatever reputation they have as an educational institution is gone.  Now, none of what I have said above means that Winston is a rapist. The victim says he is indeed a rapist. The victims family said that law enforcement in Florida tried to intimidate the victim and her family from following through with her case. Good for you whoever you are. Winston must be arrested because he has given the State's Attorney no choice. You have a very credible witness  who says he raped her. She identified him after the fact. She didn't really know who he was when the alledged crime occured. She learned who he was, recognized him, filed a complaint as is her right, and has cooperated completely. Winston on the the other hand will not cooperate with the State Attorney, instead he refuses to make any private or pubic statement regardng his part in what occured.  I support anyone's right to remain silent. That's not the same as being innocent however. Probably, as a general rule the opposite is true.

         FSU and the State of Florida value Winston's services as a quarterback and not the value of the victims life which has been torn apart. FSU and law enforcement officials, prosecutors, and others want to make sure that Winston plays for the Seminoles on the quest for a national championship. Do those people understand exactly what they are saying to the rest of the world. It's time for the NCAA to get involved in this as well. If a member institution will not make any attempt to determine why one of their student athletes refuses to cooperate with the law in a rape case, a moral imperative mandates intervention.

         The story here is that the attempt to keep the truth from being known is going to become larger than the national championship game itself. If Winston is innocent he should assert that innocence. He needs to make a public assertion of that innoncene. He doens't need to make it through his lawyer or spokesman. Jimbo Fisher needs to man up on all this. He needs to suspend his quarterback until he breaks his vow of silence.  Winston doesn't have to say a word if he chooses not. When he is arrested he doesn't have to say a word.  I can almost imagine the coming teardown that is coming Florida State and all these law enforcement people their way. You have a prosecutor who is a FSU graduate. Why doesn't the school and the State of Florida just shoot the victim to shut her up. In reality, that is what they are doing right now. I want everyone to imagine for a moment that FSU and the State knows that Winston is guilty and are exerting pressure on the victim to keep quiet and go quietly into the bad Florida night. Surely that isn't true. If so, that is a serious crime. It's not against the law to look the other way. If the State's Attorney does he will be disbarred.

     An accusation doesn't make anything true. A failure to cooperate and maintain your innocence is enough to put Winston on the bench. Anyone recall what happened when three Alabama players were accused of a much less serious felony. Let's assume they chose to just keep quiet. Saban would have suspended them anyway. Those players would have to go to the coach and convince the coach of their purity in the matter. Even if the coach believed them he would have still suspended them. FSU, Fisher, and Florida doesn't have the integrity to do that. That sick. The three F's are all trying to keep the lid on this thing in my opinion. You want to know what's wrong with this country? When educational institutions, coaches, and the law looks the other way you have the answer. That's as bad as a member of Congress having a felony reduced to a misdemeanor for possession of Cocaine. The man has the arrogance not to resign. That's whats going on in Florida right now. Misplaced values and arrogance in search of a football game. That's even sicker.

     I wish the NCAA would make it abundantly clear that if FSU plays a rapist at quarterback and had reason to know that, they would be stripped of any games he plays in now. If they win a national chammpionship the school would be stripped of the title. That seems fair. But the bottom line on this matter is this - Winston thinks someone will make the whole thing go away, he mght make some sort of public statement after a certain football game is played, or he may have a trial. Take your pick. I'm going with the first one. Who thinks that this 'investigation' will be cleared up in the next two months or so?

Important update:  the family of the victim disclosed today that a DNA sample of the perp was taken. The Tallahassee Police Department refused to take Winston's DNA citing a fear the test would tip of Winston. They then closed the case shortly thereafter (according to ESPN)