This post is about Jameis Winston’s future in the NFL.
On February 8, 2015, I edited the title of this post-column – to “Jameis Winston latest news” – in a blatant attempt to get more readers by paraphrasing the first phrase that comes up when you start typing into your search engine, “J-A-M-E-I…” I’ll let you know how that turns out.
Briefly, here’s my prognostication about Jameis’ future: If the Tampa Bay Buccaneers draft Jameis Winston, they’ll win another Super Bowl within 3 years…
Moving right along, if you mention Jameis Winston – the former quarterback for FSU – what comes to mind? One thing that comes to my mind are the following four words:
Creation. Sin. Judgment. Redemption.
These are the four main themes of the Bible. In the saga of Winston’s college football career at Florida State, we’ve only seen the first three play out. So far. So: Let’s make this a Bible-teaching moment! But first, note that part of his “redemption” has started, at least as that term is defined by our popular culture. Aside from the “JW” categories noted below, Winston has spawned another new cottage industry. Just type in “jameis winston greeting cards.” You’ll get a host of new sites exploiting his image, like “Jameis Winston Winner’s Smile” Greeting Cards & Postcards, Jameis Winston: T-Shirts & Hoodies, and even the slightly humorous Rottenecards – Went to Red Lobster for Crabfest….Jameis Winston beat me to it. Simply put: He’s become good for the economy! (As in the cottage industry of “Jameis-bashing…”) But enough about the shallow world of popular culture. (See The shallow world of Popular Culture. – The Escapist.) Let’s get back to the subject at hand.
So again: Let’s make this a Bible-teaching moment!
Before we get into that, there may be some who ask: “What the heck does college football have to do with a Bible blog?” Simply this. I started the Mystic Quest that led to this blog in an effort to help my favorite team win football games. That is, in the summer of 1992 I started reading the Bible on a daily basis, using the Daily Office. (See WHAT’S A DOR?) I also started trying to perfect the “ritual sacrifice” that would also help my team win. In that I was not unlike Moses holding his arms up at the Battle of Rephidim. (See On “God’s Favorite Team” – Part II, and also Exodus 17 – Bible Gateway, and especially verses 11-13.) 22 years and 10 trips through the Bible later – and 33 to 40 trips through the Psalms and Gospels as well – I’m still at it. I’m still learning spiritual lessons through that Quest…
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But let’s get back to the Bible-teaching moment.
Creation is about “how we got here.” In Winston’s case, we got here when Jameis burst onto the college football scene in 2013 as a redshirt freshman. He then led a dominating FSU team to a national title win in a game of the century against Auburn, one short year ago.
But as we all know, “there’s got to be a morning after…” Put another way, after every mountain-top experience there’s usually “a valley experience… We can’t stay on the mountain top all the time.” See The Valley Experience, which added, “they return back to the valley of their world [and] come under attack from the enemy.” (But that’s a whole ‘nother post-subject entirely…) Which leads to the second great theme of the Bible: Sin. Sin?
By now the American public has been inundated with Winston’s real and imagined sins. Start typing “J-a-m-e-i” in your computer. You’ll get at least the following results: Jameis Winston latest news, Jameis Winston hearing, Jameis Winston accuser, Jameis Winston fumble, Jameis Winston memes, Jameis Winston hearing results, and Jameis Winston rape case. An example of the last category includes: Jameis Winston Is Not A Victim – Deadspin. The writer gave facts and figures ostensibly showing – in essence – that “women never lie about rape.” He added, “one must be extraordinarily unlucky to be falsely accused of rape.” He then said, “the odds that you will be falsely accused of rape are basically the same as the odds that you or someone in your family will be struck by lightning.”
Really? Former football player Brian Banks might have a different take. He served five years in prison for a rape he didn’t commit. See Exonerated Brian Banks signs with Atlanta Falcons – CNN.com, which noted that Banks was only released from prison after his accuser “recanted.” Then there was the “Duke lacrosse case” in 2006. See Duke Lacrosse Player Still Outrunning His Past | Vanity Fair, which described the lingering after-effects of such a “scandal,” then noted:
When three Duke University lacrosse players were falsely accused of rape, in 2006, the media descended on Durham, North Carolina, quickly turning the case into a story of race and privilege. Most of the country all but assumed their guilt…
Some things never change, and it seems that popular “assuming guilt” is one of them. (But here’s a thought. As noted in Part II, the Bible punishes both those who make false accusations and “those eager to receive or listen to false testimony.” The Bible does not seem to punish those who “believe in their fellow man” and/or give him the benefit of doubt…) See also Duke lacrosse case – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, about “what proved to be a false accusation of rape made against three members of the men’s lacrosse team at Duke University… The fallout from the case’s resolution led to public discussion of reverse racism, among other things, and the resignation and disbarment of lead prosecutor Michael Nifong.” Then there was the scandal that came up just a month ago about the University of Virginia. See A Rape on Campus – Wikipedia. An article in the December 2014 Rolling Stone “alleged a vicious gang rape at a fraternity at the University of Virginia against a victim identified as ‘Jackie.'” However, other journalists started finding “significant discrepancies,” after which Rolling Stone had to issue multiple apologies, especially about it’s “vetting:”
The story was included in a Columbia Journalism Review feature, “The Worst Journalism of 2014,” where it was described as winning “this year’s media-fail sweepstakes.”
See also 8 Campus Rape Hoaxes Like UVA Rape Story | The Daily Caller: “With very little effort at all, The Daily Caller has found eight twisted, totally false and especially astonishing rape hoaxes proffered over the years by female college students.” Of course the writer of Jameis Winston Is Not A Victim is entitled to his opinion. However, readily-available data show otherwise. At the very least, reasonable people could disagree. Beyond all that, the Bible tells us such false accusations go at least as far back as 3,500 years ago. That was the time of Joseph, son of Israel, the Old Testament patriarch “formerly known as Jacob.” See Potiphar – Wikipedia, which told what happened after Joseph’s brothers faked his death but actually sold him into slavery in Egypt. In the fullness of time the slave Joseph was bought by Potiphar, captain of the Pharoah’s palace guard:
Potiphar makes Joseph the head of his household, but Potiphar’s wife, furious at Joseph for resisting her attempts to seduce him, accuses him falsely of attempted rape. Potiphar casts Joseph into prison, from where he later comes to the notice of Pharaoh through his ability to interpret the dreams of other prisoners.
See also Joseph (patriarch) – Wikipedia: “Angered by his running away from her, she made a false claim that he tried to rape her, and thus assured his imprisonment. (Genesis 39:1-20).” The incident proved fertile ground for artistic minds, if not license – especially in the 1600s – as seen in the image below. (One of the few not too “racy” for a blog like this.) One point to be gleaned could be: this was “all part of God’s plan.” Joseph eventually found redemption. And who knows? Maybe the same will be true of Jameis…
This essay is continued in On Jameis Winston’s future – Part II. That post will expand on the fourth-of-four great themes of the Bible – redemption – and on the “prophecy” that if the Tampa Bay Buccaneers draft Winston, they’ll win a Super Bowl in three years.
The upper image is courtesy of ‘Jameis Winston is a bust’ and other Week 1 overreactions in the NFL. I added this photo on October 9, 2015, along with the article-link.
Re: “Four central themes.” See Course Content, under The First Year – The Old Testament, line 2, “The Book of Genesis – The Themes of Creation, Sin, Judgment and Redemption.” See also The Central Theme of the Bible – Covenant Worldview Institute. Re: “Creation” definition. See How did we get here? – Christian Apologetics and Research.
Re: “Winston’s real and imagined sins.” The most infamous charge involved an alleged rape in 2012. On or about December 5 2013, State Attorney Willie Meggs announced no charges would be filed. He did not feel “we had sufficient evidence to go forward to trial to prove it was not consensual.” See Cleared a year ago, developments threaten to envelop Jameis Winston. Similarly – and as noted in Part II – on or about December 21, 2014, former Florida Supreme Court Chief Justice Major B. Harding concluded a “student conduct” hearing. His finding? “The preponderance of the evidence has not shown that you are responsible for any of the charged violations of the code.” See FSU hearing clears quarterback Jameis Winston – CNN.com.
Some further FYI: 1) Willie Meggs began his career in 1965 as a police officer, moved up to deputy-sheriff sergeant, then to Invesigator for the Tallahassee Police Department. He was first elected State Attorney in 1985 and has been serving ever since. 2) Major B. Harding, former Chief Justice of the Florida Supreme Court, was born in1935. He received his “undergraduate and law degrees from Wake Forest University. He also holds a Master of Laws in Judicial Process from the University of Virginia.” He began serving as a judge in 1968 in the juvenile court. See State Attorney’s Office, 2nd Judicial Circuit. See also Major B. Harding – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, Major B. Harding, Alternative Dispute Resolution, and The Justice Major B. Harding American Inn of Court, which noted:
American Inns of Court (AIC) are designed to improve the skills, professionalism and ethics of the bench and bar. An American Inn of Court is an amalgam of judges, lawyers, and in some cases, law professors and law students. Each Inn meets approximately once a month to hold programs and discussions on matters of ethics, skills and professionalism.
3) The preponderance of evidence standard is met “if the proposition is more likely to be true than not true. Effectively, the standard is satisfied if there is greater than 50 percent chance that the proposition is true.” See Legal burden of proof – Wikipedia. 4) Misfeasance, nonfeasance, and malfeasance are types of failure to discharge public obligations existing by common law, custom, or statute. See Misfeasance – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Under Florida Statute 838.022, “Official misconduct” is a third-degree felony, punishable by up to five years in prison. See Chapter 838 Section 022 – 2011 Florida Statutes, and also Fifty State Survey of Official Misconduct Statutes. Re: “Morning after.” See also The Morning After (Maureen McGovern song) – Wikipedia. Re: Brian Banks. See also Brian Banks (American football) – Wikipedia, which noted:
Banks was a standout high school football star at Polytechnic High School (Poly) in Long Beach, California, and in 2002 had verbally committed to play for USC. After being falsely accused of rape by a classmate, he spent more than five years in prison, but had his conviction overturned in 2012 after his accuser was secretly recorded admitting she had fabricated the story. (E.A.)
Thus the “recanted” in quotation marks. Re: “Vetting.” See Vetting – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: “To vet was originally a horse-racing term, referring to the requirement that a horse be checked for health and soundness by a veterinarian before being allowed to race. Thus, it has taken the general meaning ‘to check.'”
The lower image is courtesy of Potiphar – Wikipedia. The caption: “Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife, by Guido Reni 1630.” The point being that Potiphar’s wife made a false accusation of rape, and that despite his being innocent, Joseph got thrown into prison.