Jameis Winston Autograph Suspension Unlikely? 'No Information Indicating He Accepted Payment At This Time'
ByJameis Winston seems as though he all but clear of an improper benefits suspension from Florida State University (FSU).
ESPN's Darren Rovell reported that FSU investigators have yet to contact either the Florida or New Jersey office of James Spence Authentication (JSA). Their website has more than 2,000 authenticated Winston autographs, ESPN reported, though FSU has apparently found nothing to suggest Winston was paid in exchange.
FSU has yet to contact authenticator JSA to discuss volume of Winston signatures that have been authenticated by company
— darren rovell (@darrenrovell) October 17, 2014
"At this time we have no information indicating that he accepted payment for items reported to bear his signature, thereby compromising his athletics eligibility," athletic director Stan Wilcox said in a statement. "The fact that items appear on an Internet site bearing the signature of a student-athlete does not singularly determine a violation of NCAA rules." As Rovell noted on Twitter, the NCAA is relying on FSU to conduct an investigation into one of its own football players, their star QB and the reigning Heisman Trophy winner. The same went for Georgia and running back Todd Gurley and in that case, investigators said they had evidence he accepted payment for his autograph.
The NCAA is relying on Georgia & FSU to investigate Gurley & Winston. That's different from Manziel, who NCAA was investigating itself. — darren rovell (@darrenrovell) October 18, 2014
However, Johnny Manziel went through a similar investigation before last season and the NCAA conducted the investigation itself.
"We have kept both the conference office and the NCAA apprised of our efforts on this matter," Wilcox said. "The University takes very seriously any and all allegations of potential rules violations and processes them in accordance with ACC and NCAA policies and procedures."
JSA authenticated both Winston and Gurley's autographs, but a broker had spoken out against the latter and claimed he was paid in exchange. According to ESPN, Winston is a prolific autograph signer, especially during the baseball season when the crowds were considerably smaller.
But 2,000+ is a high volume, which is why the JSA website caught FSU's attention in the first place. JSA also listed the signed items in a particular sequential order, which is an indicator of a signing session involving hundreds of items at once.
