New Leader, Old Habit
May 8th, 2015
One reason the Bucs were so enamored with Jameis Winston was his leadership strength.
Yeah, “leader” is almost as overused in sports as the recent fad of “mentor.”
But there are some that inspire their teammates and Winston is one of those.
When interviewing his former Florida State teammates, Bucs general manager Jason Licht said they raved about Winston and would run through a brick wall for him.
Lovie Smith even spoke about how Winston’s interactions with his teammates were a factor in choosing him No. 1 overall.
At Florida State, Winston had a pregame ritual where he raced to the tunnel that led to the entrance/exit for the Seminoles field. There, as pregame warm-ups ended, Winston would greet each of his teammates individually. As they left the field and headed to the locker room, Winston would offer a pat on the shoulder pads, encouraging words, slap skin, anything to help bond the team and get his teammates fired up and focused.
It seems Winston has brought that personal tradition with him to Tampa Bay.
As the bus transporting rookies from their local hotel to One Buc Palace yesterday pulled up at Bucs headquarters, Winston raced to the front of the line and greeted each teammate as they entered the building. You can see it in the video below courtesy of Buccaneers.com.
Yeah, it may be trivial. Yeah, it may be insignificant, but to Joe, it shows Winston is a natural leader and strives to develop a bonds. You know, a Band of Brothers kind of thing.
And Joe thinks that is pretty cool.
Jameis Winston was first to arrive at One Buc to meet & greet all of his fellow rookies heading into Mini-Camp https://t.co/phCGki8tBW
— Tampa Bay Buccaneers (@TBBuccaneers) May 7, 2015
May 8th, 2015 at 6:04 am
Potentialy greatest leader alive and best leader since Andrew Luck coming out of college.
Challanges Peyton Manning and Tom Brady in terms of leading..
Most players don´t want to play for their QB´s because they aren´t that good a leader like Jameis is.
What an leader
(sarcasm)
May 8th, 2015 at 6:05 am
Winston quarterbacked the 1st and 3rd best seasons in the history of FSU football. That didn’t happen because he is a talented QB, it didn’t happen because FSU suddenly found talent, it happened because this kid has a unique ability to inspire and motivate his teammates. Watch and enjoy Bucs fans…
May 8th, 2015 at 6:12 am
The young man is gonna make it happen.
May 8th, 2015 at 6:31 am
@JOE
You’re going to love this. Please don’t be a link NAZI and give it a chance. It’s Jameis.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=MyZwdIeHVjI
May 8th, 2015 at 6:33 am
I have never been this excited about a rookie mini camp. Joe, keep a look out for Justin Shirk. I have seen him play many of games here in his home state of PA, and he is a machine at MLB.
May 8th, 2015 at 6:57 am
Did Jameis shrink? Almost all those players look taller than him.
May 8th, 2015 at 7:04 am
Wish I were in the TB area so I could take the day off and take some of the offseason work in that fans are allowed to come out to. Would be cool to tell the kids when they’re watching Winston hold up that Lombardi for the Bucs that they were there at his first practice with the team.
May 8th, 2015 at 7:16 am
I remember his pro day. During one of the breaks he walked over and grabbed a drink caddy and passed out water to his team mates. Just another thing that might not be a big deal but I thought was pretty cool.
May 8th, 2015 at 7:22 am
@Clodhopper – For as much as everyone seems desperate to paint a picture of Winston as an entitled kid who believes the whole world revolves around him, he really seems to be a guy that understands how much he needs his team to succeed and has said multiple times that he wants to “serve” his teammates. Of course, we only see what we’re able to see and we aren’t part of the inner circle where we know who he is when the cameras are off but I’ve never heard anyone come forward who was behind the scenes with him and who came away saying that he was anything other than as advertised.
May 8th, 2015 at 7:28 am
TY for link Ray Rice. I`ve never been that excited about a Bucs qb in last 20yrs until now.
May 8th, 2015 at 7:44 am
You mean bail bonds?
May 8th, 2015 at 7:48 am
The champ is here!
May 8th, 2015 at 8:02 am
Looks like we drafted a lot of “dogs”…..
May 8th, 2015 at 8:11 am
Thats what I love about this kid! Man, we finally have a leader on offense. How long has it been?
May 8th, 2015 at 8:12 am
We have a NEW ERA in Tampa Bay! So exciting
May 8th, 2015 at 8:20 am
Ray Rice – good link. There is another one from that same camp where he is up in front of the room impersonating Dillfer and the other coaches there. It was pretty funny.
May 8th, 2015 at 8:20 am
@Ray Rice,
Great video dude. Can’t get enough of JW right now. Thank you
May 8th, 2015 at 8:27 am
@Joe – If you’ve got the ability to do it, you guys should set up a live stream from your video crew. I can’t speak for everyone (although I’ve got a pretty good idea that I’m not in the minority) but I would have it up from start to finish.
May 8th, 2015 at 9:05 am
Leader??? Like he was in the Clemson game???? Or the Oregon game??? JBF, please stop slobbering over this low character POS like he’s the second coming of Joe Montana or Andrew Luck.
May 8th, 2015 at 9:14 am
MariotaJoe….. don’t you have a titans blog to be stinkin up with your bs? are you Erica Kinsmans boyfriend? get off his jock strap and go root for another team….bum.
Thank you Joe for all that you do!!
May 8th, 2015 at 9:16 am
Gettin a little lonely isnt is Mariota Joe? You gonna make a comment on the middle school kids story too?
” Aaarg!! the Clemson game! Bad Character!! Aaarg!!”
May 8th, 2015 at 9:20 am
#Barrysaracist
#JustLeave
#youneversayanythinguseful
May 8th, 2015 at 9:29 am
Mariota Joe
You are the one who is a low character POS. You prove it each and every day with your classless and fact challenged rants. Get a life loser. Oh stop being such a wuss when people disagree with your nonsense
May 8th, 2015 at 9:31 am
Mariota Joe Says:
May 8th, 2015 at 9:05 am
Leader??? Like he was in the Clemson game???? Or the Oregon game??? JBF, please stop slobbering over this low character POS like he’s the second coming of Joe Montana or Andrew Luck.
“Mariota Joe Says:
April 28th, 2015 at 5:26 pm
Love and Warrick Dunn Says:
I care about the TEAM more than I care about Infamous, however, I simply cannot root for a team that decides to make him the face of the franchise”
Mariota Joe, clearly, you’re character is flawed. You said yourself you can’t root for this team. Yet, over a week later, here you are.
May 8th, 2015 at 9:34 am
Mariota Joe, it’s funny you bring up the Clemson game since Gruden pointed directly to that game as an example of JW’s leadership.
As did Sean Maguire’s father:
Mariota Joe, it’s easy to be a leader when things are going well….look at the Clemson game as an example of how Jameis leads his men into battle when things are going bad.
May 8th, 2015 at 9:51 am
Heh, FSU went 1 and 1 in the two games MJ mentions. Of course, they went 25-0 (with a Natty) in the games MJ forgot.
May 8th, 2015 at 9:52 am
CAN’T WAIT!
May 8th, 2015 at 10:03 am
@ CreamsicleBananaHammock
Maybe he was referencing the Clemson game from the year before that truly put this man’s leadership skills on display. There are so many examples.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=munrMvsnbQQ
Mariota Joe is an idiot.
May 8th, 2015 at 10:48 am
I absolutely love it! Can’t wait to see him in uniform slinging the ball around.
May 8th, 2015 at 11:03 am
Winston has a rare blend of leadership and selflessness. Its those traits that seperate him from other quarterbacks, like Mariota. It goes beyond the physical tools. The mental make up Jameis shows is just great. He’s going to lead this team for the next decade plus. What a great time to be a Bucs fan.
May 8th, 2015 at 12:36 pm
hell yea!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! cant wait for wk1 in the preseason of course
May 8th, 2015 at 12:41 pm
@Ray Rice
Great video!
May 8th, 2015 at 12:50 pm
Hold up now. Perhaps Mariota Joe approaches the subject wrong, but he actually has a point.
Jameis Winston overall has been a good leader, but he has shown flashes of bad leadership too. No point in avoiding it or pretending those instances did not happen. Just as there is no point in pretending the off field issues were not there or that they are not a concern.
These are things Jameis will have to face up to nearly every year of his career. No avoiding it.
And as long as he has to, it will drive him to be a better man.
Far as I am concerned, for now, he has a clean slate. I’m going to give him props when he deserves it.
And right now? He deserves them. The difference between he and Glennon as leaders is incredible. In fact, I have not seen a better leading QB on this team. But it’s the off season, and while it is very, very important to lead now, he’ll have to be a master at it during the reg season to win reluctant fans over.
He’s off to a very good start.
So was Josh McCown last off season, but I think Jameis will be much better on the field.
May 8th, 2015 at 1:28 pm
So far, so good Jameis!!! He needs to be ready Week 1. We can’t lose to Mariota if he plays. Jameis needs revenge!!
May 8th, 2015 at 2:44 pm
So Jameis cut all the other rookies in line? What a sense of entitlement…
(Sarcasm)
May 8th, 2015 at 4:48 pm
This is the beginning of a lot of Great season’s to come because Jameis is our QB. Lovie will be here a long time. This will probably be Lovie’s last HC job.Lovie will most likely retire after his long tenure here. Lovie will build a Great Defense and obviously he is building a Great Offense. So Excited!!! GO BUCS!!!
May 8th, 2015 at 8:39 pm
Lovie needs to build an indoor practice facility and stop buc’n around.