Bowden on Jameis Winston comments: 'I tried to give an honest answer'
Bobby Bowden said he tried to give an honest answer to Paul Finebaum when asked if Jameis Winston was an embarrassment to Florida State.
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Bobby Bowden may not have realized how his comments on Jameis Winston would be received when speaking to Paul Finebaum on Tuesday afternoon, but after saying that it was a "consensus" among FSU fans and boosters that Winston's off-field actions were an "embarrassment" to the university there was an instant and loud response.
Florida State fans spoke out in support of both Winston and Bowden. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers, where Winston is now the face of the franchise, responded. Bowden, when contacted for additional comments by the Tallahassee Democrat, said he was just trying to give an "honest answer" to Finebaum's question.
"No. 1, Finebaum called me and asked me my opinion," Bowden told the Democrat. "And I think my statement was ... that I felt like a majority of the alumni and boosters were probably embarrassed by some of the things that happened.
"Now that's no different than it was when I was coaching. Every time one of my boys got into trouble, I'm sure it embarrassed our people. So I don't see anything strange about that. I think all alumni, when they read the paper and see one of their players do something way out of line, I'm sure it's a little embarrassing if they have any pride in the university."
Bowden also told the paper he has never met Winston, but thinks that he will learn from his mistakes.
"He just made mistakes that a grammar school guy would make," Bowden added in the interview. "But he's young enough to overcome all that. And I'll think he'll learn from it."
The initial reaction to Bowden's comments came not from audio of the interview, but a clip of the "embarrassment" quote. When looking at Bowden's response to Finebaum in its entirety, the two-time national championship winning coach appears much less aggressive.
"Well, I think it's a consensus among Florida State fans and boosters that he was an embarrassment in a lot of ways to the university," Bowden told Finebaum on Tuesday. "He won a lot of ball games. Probably one of the best football players that ever attended Florida State, but he hurt himself off the field. The good news is that he's young enough to get over that, you know. But he's got to do that. He just can't make those junior high school decisions that he made when he was in college."
