Wake up this morning and you may be seeing a number of headlines suggesting Florida State’s Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Jameis Winston was involved in a benches-clearing brawl during a game Tuesday night. Relax. It was nothing close to that menacing and far from anything that would have caused Winston to suffer a Zach Greinke sort of injury that could jeopardize his football abilities later this fall.
The more accurate description of what took place during No. 1 Florida State’s upset loss to the rival Florida Gators would be a “bench-clearing incident,” because not a single punch was thrown. It could hardly be defined as a fight upon closer inspection. As Florida State’s D.J. Stewart ran up the first baseline, he collided with Florida pitcher Danny Young, who was attempted to field the grounder up the first base line. Florida first baseman Zach Powers took offense to the collision in the base path and gave Stewart a shove. Tempers flared for a second, but the first base umpire intervened. But by the time that happened the two benches emptied and players from both schools were on the field in a typical baseball shouting match. Among those players was Florida State’s Winston, who of course became the subject of a photo from the incident.
No punches were thrown. A helmet was thrown to the ground and three players were ejected from the game. Winston was not among them. But none of those players won a Heisman Trophy, so their role in the incident will be glossed over.
Earlier this spring it was reported Winston’s baseball schedule would cause the quarterback to miss one spring football practice.