During his time at Alabama, Nick Saban recruited some top players on his way to winning six national championships across 17 seasons. By 2011, he had two national titles to his name, and he was on the lookout for his next QB prospect. Jameis Winston was making a lot of noise in high school circuits, and as a local kid from Alabama, the hope was that he would join Crimson Tide. But he had other plans.

As a two-sport athlete, Winston was always looking at colleges that had good football and baseball programs. Saban was aware of this, and in an attempt to swoop the young QB, he made a big demand to Alabama.

“It was Stanford, it was LSU, and it was Florida State,” said Winston on the Where’s Jameis podcast. “Alabama was in contention. Just because you know how it is, you from Alabama, you take grandma out to Tuscaloosa, and they give grandma a cookie cake and everything.”

“Actually, one thing that a lot of people don’t realize, Saban told the baseball coach to build a whole new facility in hopes that they would land me to come to Alabama,” said Winston. “But I still ain’t going; it just was too close.”

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While this is a massive thing for any coach to do, Winston laid out that the college was too close to home, which is why he refused the offer of being coached by Saban.

Winston would eventually go to Florida State, where he became the youngest player to win the Heisman Trophy in his freshman season. While Saban missed out on Winston that year, he won the CFP championship in 2012.

Winston’s Florida State would go on to win the 2014 National Championship game, where the QB made the game deciding play for the college.

Winston’s tryst with Baseball

Interestingly, before he even signed for a college program, another lucrative offer was on the table for Jameis Winston. The Texas Rangers drafted Winston in the 15th round of the 2012 MLB draft, but Winston opted to go to Florida State instead so he could continue playing both sports. 

In his time at Florida State, Winston was committed to playing both football and baseball. He served as a designated hitter and right-handed relief pitcher with a mean 95-mph fastball. He pitched in 60.1 collegiate innings.

Following his sophomore year, Winston opted to enter the NFL draft in 2015, where the Tampa Bay Buccaneers selected him with the first overall pick. 

In his rookie contract with the Buccaneers, a no-baseball clause brought an end to Winston’s dual-sport career as the immediate starting quarterback role for the Buccaneers became Winston’s only priority. 

A Journey from First Draft to Backup

From 2015 to 2019, Winston was a force to be reckoned with for the Buccaneers. In his rookie season itself, he made the Pro Bowl. He kept playing at a high level, but in the 2019 season, he did something incredible. Winston recorded 5,109 passing yards and 33 touchdowns but also threw 30 interceptions.

In 2020, when the Bucs brought in Tom Brady, Winston’s time in Tampa came to an end. Winston made his way to the New Orleans Saints that year, and as luck would have it, Tampa Bay would go on to win the Super Bowl in 2021.

A move to the Cleveland Browns in 2024 saw him play 12 games before he moved to the New York Giants last year to play as backup to Jaxson Dart. 

After 108 games across his 11 years in the NFL, Winston has 24,792 passing yards for 156 touchdowns with a completion rate of 61.1. The strong shoulder has always been a key for Winston right through his time in both baseball and football. 

Entering his 12th season, Winston hopes he can have an impactful presence whenever John Harbaugh decides to have him lead the plays.