Jameis Winston Reveals he Nearly Committed to Stanford Over Florida State

We may remember the era of Jameis Winston at Florida State, where the former No. 1 overall pick from the 2015 NFL Draft became a household name. Winning the national title and the Heisman Trophy in 2013, Winston's name became a staple around college football. But what if it's possible that Winston's college career was on the verge of looking very different?

On Wednesday, Winston revealed on the show, Pardon My Take, that he almost opted to play college football for Stanford under David Shaw as opposed to joining the Seminoles like he did. Always having the goal of playing football and baseball, Winston believed that the prestige of both of those programs, as well as the strong academics, is what made Stanford so appealing.

But coming from Alabama, Winston ultimately chose Florida State due to it being closer to home. Among his other school options were LSU and Texas.

"I was very close to going to Stanford in my mind, right" Winston said on the show. "Stanford was the dream school that I've always thought that I would be at playing baseball and football, because you just think about John Elway, right? So academically and athletically, I thought that it was the epitome of going somewhere and playing football. But I knew that I could not be that far away from Alabama."

At Florida State, Winston was a two-year starter after redshirting his true freshman season in 2012. During his Heisman and national championship winning campaign in 2013, his first as a starter, Winston completed 66.9% of his passes for 4,057 yards, with 40 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. As a junior in 2014, he completed 65.4% of his passes for 3,907 yards, 25 touchdowns and 18 interceptions.

Since bursting onto the scene in college and being the first overall pick, Winston has had an up and down NFL career, spending some time as the starter for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (earning Pro Bowl honors as a rookie in 2015), where he remained through 2019. Signing with the New Orleans Saints prior to 2020, Winston then spent a season as a backup to Drew Brees.

Then, Winston became a starter once again in 2021 following Brees' retirement but sustained a torn ACL that prematurely ended his season in week 8. In 2022, Winston was re-signed by the Saints and returned to being their starter, but after dealing with more injuries and some inconsistent play, he ended the season as the second-string quarterback.

After the Saints signed Derek Carr prior to 2023, Winston spent his final season in New Orleans as Carr's backup before signing with the Cleveland Browns for the 2024 season.

Now a free agent, it remains to be seen where Winston will continue his NFL career. Known for being a well-respected leader in the locker room and having veteran experience, he could be a good fit for any team that needs a quarterback and should see a fair amount of interest come free agency.

He has recently been asking players on the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs where he should sign as a member of the media with NFL on Fox. Tight end Travis Kelce invited him to come join the Chiefs, while Saquon Barkley said that the New York Giants could use a QB.