TALLAHASSEE (AP) — Florida State has suspended Jameis Winston for the entire game against Clemson on Saturday, extending its initial punishment of one half after the quarterback made "offensive and vulgar" comments about female anatomy earlier this week.
Interim President Garnett S. Stokes and athletic director Stan Wilcox announced the decision late Friday night. There had been criticism that the original punishment for Winston's latest embarrassing off-field incident was too light.
The statement released by the university Friday read, "Based upon the results of our continuing investigation of Tuesday's incident involving Jameis Winston, we have decided to not play him for the entire game against Clemson on Saturday night."
Several students tweeted Winston stood on campus and shouted a lascivious comment that may have derived from an internet meme.
A university spokeswoman told The Associated Press Friday night Stokes was not available for comment; Wilcox could not be reached.
The university also had initially announced that Winston would face internal discipline. Officials did not say why Winston was only benched for just a half and they did not provide details of the internal punishment.
Coach Jimbo Fisher was asked about the half-game suspension after practice Thursday and said, "We're in charge. It's our team. That's what we thought. We went with the consequences and we're ready to move on."
Fisher also said after that practice that the president and athletic director are always involved in university policy, but declined to answer when asked if it's normal for them to be involved in team discipline.
"It was wrong and he made a mistake," Fisher said Thursday. "He made a bad error in judgment. But that's water under the bridge. We have to move on and get ready for this game. We're 48 hours out and I'm going to focus on this football game."
The 20-year-old Winston addressed his inappropriate comments before Wednesday's practice: "I have to tone it down."
The Heisman Trophy winner has made similar comments after previous incidents.
While playing for the Florida State baseball team, he was suspended for three games and completed 20 hours of community service after acknowledging he stole $32 worth of crab legs from a local grocery store in April. Before the football season, he said he had matured, learned what it takes to be a leader and understood that he needed to be more careful in his personal life.
The school president and AD are admonishing him for doing just the opposite.
"You know you have to overcome adversity, and that's one thing at Florida State that we do," Winston said Wednesday. "We work on overcoming adversity. When I do get my opportunity to play, I'm going to do everything I can because I have to accept it.
"That's going to eat me up because I want to be out there on the field. I want to be out on the field with my team, but I did something so I have to accept the consequences."
Little known redshirt sophomore Sean Maguire will make his first college start for the top-ranked Seminoles in Saturday's nationally televised game against No. 22 Clemson. He has only thrown 26 career passes and was the No. 3 quarterback before Jacob Coker was injured in 2013 then transferred to Alabama.
"I wouldn't say it's a distraction, maybe at the time," Maguire said Thursday about the incident. "Maybe for the first little bit, but once the news came out, practiced happened yesterday.
"It makes me more confident knowing I get to go out there and play quarterback like we do in practice, like we do every day. I'm just looking forward to it, that's all I can say."
Florida State is trying to repeat as national champions and the winner of the Clemson-Florida State matchup has played in the Atlantic Coast Conference title game the last five years. Saturday will be the first game Florida State has played without Winston since the start of 2013 and they are 16-0 during that stretch.
Below is an earlier version of this story:
TALLAHASSEE (AP) — Jameis Winston has been benched for the first half of Saturday's game against Clemson after making “offensive and vulgar” comments about women and Florida State officials say that the quarterback will undergo internal discipline.
The decision was announced Wednesday in a joint statement by Florida State interim President Dr. Garnett S. Stokes and athletic director Stan Wilcox. Several students tweeted Winston stood on campus Tuesday and shouted a lascivious comment about female anatomy that may have derived from an internet meme.
The president and AD said, “As the university's most visible ambassadors, student-athletes at Florida State are expected to uphold at all times high standards of integrity and behavior that reflect well upon themselves, their families, coaches, teammates, the Department of Athletics and Florida State University. Student-athletes are expected to act in a way that reflects dignity and respect for others.”
The 20-year-old Winston addressed his inappropriate comments before Wednesday's practice at his weekly press conference, saying: “I have to tone it down.”
The Heisman Trophy winner gave a statement in which he added, “I just want to apologize to my university, my coaches and my teammates. I'm not a me person, but in that situation it was a selfish act. That's not how you do things. I really want to apologize to my teammates because I have now made a selfish act for them.”
Winston's latest poor off-field decision comes when Florida State is under scrutiny.
Florida State is currently under investigation by the Department of Education for the way it handles reports of sexual assault, including a case involving Winston. The investigation was prompted by a complaint from a FSU student who says Winston assaulted her in 2012.
Florida State Attorney Willie Meggs declined to press charges against Winston last fall.
A lawyer for the woman says the university is currently conducting its own investigation of that incident.
Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher had said earlier Wednesday that the quarterback would be held accountable for his “derogatory” remarks.
“It's not something we want or we're indicative of and it's not a good decision,” Fisher said. "It was something that has to be addressed.
“You can't make certain statements that are derogatory or inflammatory in any way toward any person, race, gender,” said Fisher, whose top-ranked Seminoles host No. 22 Clemson on Saturday in an Atlantic Coast Conference showdown. “The statements in which you make are always going to be made more public than statements that other individuals make,” the coach said. “And that's just the nature of the business of who you are and what you are. That's the situation it is and you have to understand that.”
Winston is no stranger to unwanted attention.
While playing for Florida State baseball team, he was suspended for three games and completed 20 hours of community service after acknowledging he stole $32 worth of crab legs from a local grocery store in April. He faced criticism nationwide and was the subject of taunts and jokes in print, online and on social media.
Winston has had other run-ins with police since enrolling at Florida State. Police questioned Winston and other FSU players in November 2012 after 13 windows were broken at an apartment complex near Doak Campbell Stadium after an apparent BB gun battle. That same month, Winston and teammate Chris Casher were held at gunpoint by campus police for hunting squirrels. The two told police they were shooting squirrels with a pellet gun along a bike trail. Police were also called after a Burger King employee called to complain that Winston was stealing soda.
Winston was not arrested in any of those three incidents.
The Seminoles rolled over Clemson last season 51-14 en route to a national championship. Winston threw for 444 yards, three touchdowns and ran for another score in a game that put him in the driver's seat for the Heisman trophy.
“I want to be out on the field with my team, but I did something, so I have to accept the consequences,” Winston said. “I'm going to apologize to my team. We're not going to think about that, because we don't think about negative things. We're going to think about moving forward and winning the game.”
Florida State sports information director Elliott Finebloom asked for football-related questions only after Winston read his statement. He did not allow Winston to answer three different questions during the nearly nine-minute session. The last time ended the press conference.