The many faces of Jameis Winston

Do you remember, way back in September and October of 2013, when people were referring to Jameis Winston as Black Jesus?

Well, it happened. Like a lot, but it's crazy to even think about that happening, let alone acknowledge that it actually did happen because now, associating the the two different names feels weird, gross, even for those who have a favorable opinion of the former Florida State quarterback. Not that calling him the reincarnation of the son of God was perfectly okay in the first place, but there is an unease that comes with talking about him.

October 19, 2013 was the peak, and the beginning of the end, of Winstonmania, at least on a national scale. For a few weeks he was just an extremely talented freshman who had been making plays against not that good teams, but on this day, he was the phenom who led No. 5 FSU to a blowout win over No. 3 Clemson, who threw for 444 yards and three touchdowns as the Seminoles got their first win in Death Valley since 2003.

Though he impressed the country with a 25 for 27, four touchdown debut against Pitt, this was his coming out party. FSU would move to No. 2 in the country in the first BCS poll of the year, and Jameis Winston would become the Heisman frontrunner.

For the next three weeks, he would go back and forth with Marcus Mariota for Heisman honors, while FSU would go back and forth with Oregon for the No. 2 spot. On November 7, the Ducks lost to Stanford 26-20, and on November 9, Florida State beat Wake Forest 59-3.

And on November 13, TMZ published the headline: "Florida State QB Jameis Winston Investigated for Sexual Assault."

And suddenly, Florida State had the No. 2 team in the country, as well as the odds-on favorite for the Heisman, who was also now an alleged rapist.

There is a hesitation that comes with talking about Winston now, because it's hard to determine how exactly people will react to his name, what thoughts they actually hold about him.

Adults, people in their 30s and so on, usually have an utter disdain for him, which for some laughingly increased after the crab legs incident.

Winston actually for the first time acknowledged that the crab legs he stole almost a year ago from Publix were a hookup on ESPN's "Draft Academy" Tuesday night.

"A week before it was my buddy's birthday and we had got a cake and we met a dude that worked inside Publix and he said, 'Hey, anytime you come in here, I got you,'" Winston said on ESPN. "So that day we just walked out and he hooked us up with that.

"And when I came in to get crab legs, I did the same thing and he just gave them to me and I walked out. And someone from inside the store had told the security that I didn't pay for them. And that's how the whole thing started."

To some, this was the confirmation of what was already known, to others a somewhat new twist in the most famous incident of shoplifiting since Winona Ryder, but for those who have been on a crusade to stop Jameis Winston at all costs, whether for legitimate or personal reasons, this was almost as egregeious as a crime as the original.

A famous football player? Getting food?! For free?!?! An NCAA violation surely must arise from this!

Unfortunately for those people, Winston has more or less already appeased the incident in the NCAA's eyes, as broken down pretty well by Bud Elliot from Tomahawk Nation:

"Receiving free food is a potential NCAA violation, the penalty of which would likely be retroactively paying for the items (which Winston did, making restitution to the store, along with some community service). He also was suspended from the baseball team as the incident occurred during baseball season. While fans of FSU's rivals might crow about NCAA issues, nothing is expected to come of this incident."

Florida State students, however, are more split than you would think, with two sides of those who loathe him and those who offer their support, the latter being the largest group. There is a middle though, a demographic that enjoys him and how he plays football and kinda sorta laughed about the thing in the union, but are also quick to distance themselves from him, as if to say he's fine, but not one of them.

There was one kid, who had just seen Winston on ESPN's Sport Science and was excitedly talking to me about the measurements and comparisons that they had made.

"Did you hear that they said he's as smart as Peyton Manning?"

"Yeah man, he's actually a lot smarter than people think."

"Oh yeah on the football field it's crazy, did you see him on the whiteboard?"

"Well I mean he's actually smart too, like in school."

"Why's he do all that dumb stuff then?"

"I don't know, he was on the honor roll here and had a 3.4 or something, he had a 4.0 in high school."

"He probably didn't have do anything here, and that's just high school. He must just be a n*****."

***

The first time I met Jameis Winston was after a baseball game, against Florida, April 9. I only know that because I looked it up, but I remember it was against Florida, because that's the day I knew while he was quarterback at Florida State that he would win a national championship.

FSU lost to the Gators 4-3, the last game in a three-game series that the Seminoles had won the first two of. Winston, who had two hits and an RBI in the loss, had stayed behind for interviews. Seeing as it was just two weeks away from the Garnet and Gold game, he obviously was getting a lot of questions, a good number of them being about football despite the uniform he currently had on. He answered every question as best as he could, and he sounded like a professional athlete, and he was just two months older than me.

Somebody asked him about how to lose to Florida, and he talked on and on about how much it hurt but he had faith in his teammates and he knew that they should have won and how much it'll help in the future, and it was hard to not just know.

Two weeks later, he threw a touchdown on his first throw ever, and I was not surprised in the least. I tweeted that he would win the Heisman and a national championship, and I was half-joking because I knew nobody would take me seriously. Later that day, he went to the baseball game against Duke and though he didn't play, he sat through the whole thing and after the game, spent an hour or so signing autographs.

A few months after that, Media Day would happen, and Winston would spend the day entertaining reporters, answering a question about his ability to lead by telling the old white reporter who asked it that he "would make him feel comfortable in a black church." He told us that the worst thing is a day with no laughs, that he wanted to be a foot doctor because his grandma always had bad feet and he wanted to help people like her.

Then somebody asked him about Johnny Manziel, what to do if he ever "caught Manziel Disease" and he told us that if he ever did, that we should hit him with our mics.

And that's when the world heard of Jameis Winston. They didn't know that the second half of the audio was him praising Manziel and saying he's a good guy, they just knew that this random freshmen just insulted the reigning Heisman winner.

NFL teams have done their homework, and one-time anonymous scouts are now being replaced by people praising his realness and his honesty. There are red flags of maturity, but ones that could be more associated with immaturity rather than malice.

By next week, Winston will almost definitely be the new quarterback of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the prophecy fulfilled from two years ago when he made his debut on Monday night in Pittsburgh and was declared the future No. 1 pick in the 2015 NFL Draft by Mel Kiper.

His accuser, who is from the Tampa area, has moved ahead with her lawsuit against him, accusing Winston of rape, assault, false imprisonment and emotional distress, and this is most likely the final chapter of the saga that has hurt the reputation of one person and ruined the life of another.

For what it's worth, Winston does not intend to settle.

"Ms. Kinsman's false accusations have already been exposed and rejected six times. This time will be no different," David Cornwell said in written a statement. "Mr. Winston welcomes the opportunity to clear his name with the truth. Mr. Winston is looking forward to the upcoming draft. He will not permit this ploy to distract him as he begins the journey of fulfilling his lifelong dream of being a championship quarterback in the National Football League."

Ever since he declared for the draft, Winston has been on an all-out campaign to restore his image. He has taken part in as many public appearances as he can, because he knows the Jameis you get in real life is a bit different than the one that is portrayed.

There are more significant differences than you think between a 18-year-old and a 19-year-old, or a 19-year-old and a 20-year-old and an even more between a 20-year-old and a 21-year-old. Most people don't grow up in the public spotlight, and others don't grow up at all.

Winston is out to prove that he has, that the Jameis Winston of the past is not the same of the Jameis Winston of the future.

And the whole country will be watching.