After he was announced as the No. 1 pick in the 2015 NFL Draft, Jameis Winston posted a photo on Instagram of himself eating crab legs. It was, perhaps, a less-than-subtle nod to his controversy from last year when he was accused of stealing crab legs from a grocery store.
He later deleted the photo, but if Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times is to be believed, it was not of his own accord.
Once #Bucs became aware of the Instagram pic of Winston, they encouraged having it removed from his account.
— Rick Stroud (@NFLSTROUD) May 1, 2015
Stroud also suggested that the photo was not a nod to the crab leg controversy, but rather to a captain from the TV show Deadliest Catch, who apparently gave him a crab to sign at a charity auction recently.
Okay.
On Friday morning, Bucs general manager Jason Licht and head coach Lovie Smith distanced themselves from the story as best they could, indicating they had nothing to do with asking Winston to delete the photo.
Bucs official says GM Jason Licht and HC Lovie Smith were aware of Winston crab legs photo but were not involved in removing it from SM
— Roy Cummings (@RCummingsFHCN) May 1, 2015
This cannot be the way the Buccaneers envisioned this weekend starting. Then again, with controversy seemingly following Winston wherever he turns, they may have to get used to this. One thing appears clear, though: If the Bucs are already controlling what Winston does on social media, he may be on a shorter leash with his new team than he ever was at Florida State.
