ESPN's Samantha Ponder understands that the spotlight is on Jameis Winston. But she doesn't believe it should be this difficult for the Florida State quarterback to do the right thing and stay out of trouble. With the Heisman Trophy winner suspended for one game after a vulgar, misogynist outburst on campus earlier this week,
Ponder appeared on ESPN's "College GameDay" on Saturday morning to discuss the matter.
"Here's what I'm not buying. I'm not buying that the expectations are too high. Here's what we're asking from him: We're asking that you don't lie, you don't cheat, you don't steal, and you don't disrespect women," Ponder said. "And I know people want to say, 'Oh, he's naive and there's some immaturity there.' I just think we're not giving him enough credit. He knows right from wrong. He understands that the things he's done are wrong but he continues to make those same mistakes."
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Winston, who won the Heisman Trophy and led Florida State to a national championship last season as a freshman, has previously been accused of sexual assault and confessed to stealing crab legs from a supermarket. During her discussion with "GameDay" host Chris Fowler, Ponder noted that patience with Winston may finally be running out with female Florida State fans.
"After the initial accusations of everything that has gone on in the last year or two, the Florida State faithful were just that, very faithful to Jameis Winston, defending him loyally," she said. "It seems like that's starting to change. Even the signs that you see in our audience today are a lot different than you would have expected from Jameis a couple of weeks ago. I've been talking to tons of fans and people around the program and the patience is wearing thin, especially from female fans."