New York Giants head coach John Harbaugh compared quarterback Jameis Winston to former US President Abraham Lincoln.
The striking comparison was an unusually enthusiastic—and tenuous—one for an NFL journeyman. Given Winston’s controversial history, it may also be an uncomfortable parallel from a historical perspective.
Harbaugh based the comparison on Winston’s relentlessly optimistic personality. His fiery pregame speeches and memorable sideline remarks have become defining features of the “Jameis Winston experience” throughout his NFL career.
But that public persona represents only part of his story.
Winston’s unpredictable, high-energy style—and the attention that often accompanies it—returned to the NFL spotlight earlier this season after a season-ending injury to Jaxson Dart made him the New York Giants’ starting quarterback.
While Winston and his distinctive personality are once again drawing attention, the quarterback has also made headlines in the past for far more troubling reasons.
Jameis Winston became the New York Giants’ starting quarterback after Jaxson Dart suffered a season-ending injury
The quarterback was pictured with his wife, Breion, at the 2026 US Open in New York
Winston, the 2013 Heisman Trophy winner and a national champion, was accused of sexual battery and assault during his time as a student at Florida State in a 2015 lawsuit.
Erica Kinsman, a fellow former Florida State student, accused Winston of assaulting her at his apartment in December 2012, according to court documents from the civil lawsuit reviewed by the Daily Mail.
According to the filing, Kinsman said she had been drinking at a Tallahassee bar in December 2012 when Winston and others took her to an apartment, where she alleged that the quarterback raped her.
Winston, who now has two sons with his wife, Breion, denied the allegations. Tallahassee police never charged him, and the state attorney’s office declined to pursue a criminal case.
Kinsman nevertheless brought a civil lawsuit against Winston in 2015, alleging sexual battery, assault, false imprisonment and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
Winston responded by filing a defamation lawsuit. The two sides reached an out-of-court settlement just months before the case was scheduled to go to trial, Kinsman’s attorney, John Clune, said in a December 2016 statement. The financial details and other terms remained confidential.
Earlier in 2016, Florida State agreed to pay Kinsman $950,000 as part of a Title IX lawsuit she filed against the university, according to her attorney.
The controversy did not prevent the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from selecting Winston with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2015 NFL Draft. At the time, the team determined there was no significant risk—though that judgment would later come under scrutiny.
The quarterback won a national championship with Florida State University in 2014
Winston was named the Heisman Trophy winner as a Seminole in December 2013
Former Florida State student Erica Kinsman accused Winston of sexually assaulting her
In March 2016—nine months before he reached a settlement with Kinsman—Winston was accused of groping a female Uber driver during a ride in Arizona.
The accuser, known only as Kate, claimed in a civil lawsuit that she was driving Winston back from a party in Scottsdale, Arizona, at 2am on March 13, 2016, when he ‘leaned toward her and placed his fingers between her legs and pressed them firmly against her vagina over her yoga pants.’
In the immediate aftermath of Kate’s alleged interaction with Winston, she filed a report with Uber, according to BuzzFeed.
‘We stopped to get food at a Mexican drive thru,’ she reportedly wrote in the complaint. ‘While we were stopped, out of the clear blue, this rider reached over and put his fingers on my crotch. It wasn’t accidental, and it was only for a very brief moment.
‘It wasn’t my stomach or my thigh, it was my crotch and I want to be clear about that,’ she continued. ‘I was totally shocked, and I shook him off and just said, what’s up with that?
‘Looking back I sincerely wish I would have kicked him out but he is apparently a big athlete in the NFL and he’s very physically imposing, and I was afraid that I’d make him more angry. The rest of the ride proceeded without incident. He is NOT safe for other female drivers.’
At the time, Winston denied the allegations in a statement on social media, contending he rode in the back of the car and that the woman must have confused him with the individual sitting in the front passenger seat.
However, the NFL launched an investigation into the allegations, eventually handing down a three-game suspension for violating its personal conduct policy. He served the ban at the start of the 2018 season, forfeiting a reported $124,000+ in base salary.
Winston would eventually settle the lawsuit with the accuser in this case, as well.
Winston shares two sons with his wife, eight-year-old Antonor and five-year-old Taurus
While still at FSU, he received a citation for shoplifting $32.74 worth of crab legs and crawfish at a Publix grocery store in 2014. The same year he was suspended for one game after clambering atop a table at the college’s student union and yelled out, ‘F*** her right in the p***y,’ referencing a crude, sexually objectifying meme that was popular at the time.
Then came his 2017 visit to Melrose Elementary School in St Petersburg, Florida. Winston instructed the boys in the classroom to stand up and left the girls sitting down, telling the boys, ‘We strong, right? We strong!’ His message for the girls? Be ‘silent, polite and gentle.’
Most recently, Winston issued an impassioned defense of then-Cleveland Browns teammate Deshaun Watson after the quarterback was booed by his own fans.
‘I’m very upset with the reaction to a man that has had the world against him for the past four years,’ Winston said during the 2024 season.
For context, in those four years, Watson was accused of being a serial sexual predator. He faced sexual misconduct allegations from 24 different massage therapists, many of whom claimed he exposed himself, touched them with his genitals and – in some cases – forced sexual acts during massages.
Watson denied sexually assaulting or harassing anyone and said that any sexual encounters were consensual. He was not criminally prosecuted over the allegations but was suspended by the NFL for violating the league’s personal conduct policy.
Winston issued an impassioned defense of scandalized quarterback Deshaun Watson in 2024
Winston has played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, New Orleans Saints, Browns and Giants
Winston and Watson are not the only NFL stars to face such allegations. Yet, when it comes to Winston, it is more difficult than most to reconcile the grizzled past of the scandalized shot slinger with the present-day media darling of the NFL.
Winston’s time with the Bucs ended in 2020 when he was replaced by Tom Brady. He then took the ‘Jameis Winston experience’ to New Orleans Saints, then to the Cleveland Browns, and finally, last year, to the Giants.
At each pitstop around the league, Winston has seemingly endeared himself to fans away from the field, his charisma, humor and eccentricity glossing over his history and allowing a seamless rebrand.
When HBO’s Hard Knocks focused on Tampa Bay in 2017, the team’s general manager, Jason Licht, gushed about Winston: ‘He’s the best leader I think I’ve ever been around. In anything. He inspires me.’
Giants coach Harbaugh offered similar praise with his comparison to Lincoln and Michael Jordan. Meanwhile, Winston’s New York teammates voted him onto their leadership council.
Meanwhile, he has spawned countless memes with his gimmick of ‘eating Ws’ and his rapturous pregame ode to snow games – every viral moment lapped up.
His comedic value hasn’t been limited to the NFL either. Winston landed himself a role as a centerpiece of Fox’s World Cup coverage, and he has even mocked his own scandals, cheekily referencing his crab leg shoplifting scandal in a DoorDash commercial last month.
Earlier this season, Winston was asked following a win over the Cardinals how he recovered from the two interceptions he threw.
In response, Winston closed his eyes. ‘One thing I do,’ he said, shaking a clenched fist in the air for emphasis, ‘is forgetting that is behind me, and reaching forward to what is ahead.’
That, perhaps, best summarizes the entire Jameis Winston experience: forgetting and moving on.
