Stay Connected
Atlanta Black Star/Sports
Sports

Jameis Winston Wins Walter Camp Award as Nation’s Player of The Year

Posted byBy Curtis Bunn | Published on: CommentsComments (0)
Photo by The Associated Press.

Photo by The Associated Press.

Jameis Winston, the Florida State freshman quarterback who was cleared of sexual misconduct last week, was named the Walter Camp player of the year on Thursday, which likely is a prelude to him winning college football’s highest honor, the Heisman Trophy.

Winston credited his team not only for his performance on the field, but also for supporting him as he faced felony charges during an investigation into whether he sexually assaulted a woman a year ago Saturday. State attorney Willie Meggs found there was not enough evidence to charge Winston.

“I know I did nothing wrong,” Winston said from the 23rd Home Depot College Football Awards in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.

“People just got to realize that my family, and the coaches, and coach (Jimbo) Fisher, they just supported me through this whole process, and I just feel so loved by that — you just don’t understand just how much that means to me,” he said.

The redshirt freshman is the second player from Florida State to win the Walter Camp award, joining quarterback Charlie Ward in 1993. Former Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te’o won the Walter Camp last year.

The other finalists were Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel, Northern Illinois quarterback Jordan Lynch, Alabama quarterback AJ McCarron and Boston College running back Andre Williams.

McCarron beat out Manziel and Winston for the Maxwell Award as the nation’s most outstanding player.

Winston, meanwhile, also won the Davey O’Brien Award as the nation’s best quarterback, beating out Manziel and McCarron again. Six of the last seven winners of the Davey O’Brien have gone on to win the Heisman Trophy.

Winston has set FBS freshman records for yards passing (3,820) and touchdown passes (38), leading No. 1 Florida State (13-0) into the VIZIO BCS National Championship against No. 2 Auburn. His 190.6 passer efficiency rating is tops in the country and is on pace to set an NCAA record.

“When you have a team like that, anyone can go out there and do that,” Winston said of the star-studded Seminoles.

Democracy needs journalism it can trust.

This election season, the stakes are higher than usual — and so is the pressure on newsrooms to soften their coverage, stay quiet, or just disappear. Independent reporting, the kind that answers to readers instead of advertisers or political pressure, matters more in a moment like this, not less.

For over 14 years, Atlanta Black Star has stayed independent and reader-funded. We have no corporate owner and no shareholders telling us what to cover or how to cover it. That independence is also our biggest vulnerability: nothing protects it except readers choosing to fund it directly.

Newspaper ad revenue has fallen more than 80% since 2005, and local newsrooms are closing at a rate of roughly two a week nationwide. When outlets go under in a moment like this, it's rarely the independent, reader-funded ones that get to stick around.

We know a request for support isn't why you came here. But without readers choosing to fund this work directly, the depth of reporting we can do at home and abroad shrinks along with everyone else's. If you're not in a position to give, that doesn't change how much we value you as a reader.

If you are able to, a recurring contribution does more for us than a single one-time gift, because it lets us plan the next investigation instead of just the next invoice. It takes about 30 seconds, no long form, no account. Thank you for continuing to support independent journalism and freedom of the press.

Give once Give monthly Support another way

Related Stories

Back to top