Commentary | FSU finally did the right thing with Winston, even if it caved under pressure

Florida State University finally got something right with Jameis Winston.

FSU interim President Garnett S. Stokes and Seminoles head coach Jimbo Fisher were looking like Roger Goodell clones with the way they have coddled their combustible cash cow quarterback.

Forcing Winston to sit out Saturday night's game against Clemson brought an acknowledgement from school officials that there are females on their campus.

They most likely caved in from outcry that the original half-game suspension was a bad joke and that allowing Winston to return in the second half would likely make him a martyr.

There are some who argued that the punishment was too harsh for what Winston did. He got up on a table in the student union and yelled an obscene remark toward women that was supposed to be a reference from a popular online meme.

No so if you take into account Winston's past and an epidemic of sexual assaults of women on college campuses, according to federal and independent agencies.

The Campus Sexual Violence Elimination Act (SAVE) says women on college campuses face the highest rate of stalking and the highest risk of nonfatal intimate partner violence. Twenty to 25 percent of female students experience rape or attempted rape.

Winston's remarks perpetuate violence with his joviality.

There are differing opinions on whether Winston is guilty of the sexual assault charge leveled against him by a former FSU student in 2012.

But it's a near unanimous agreement that FSU and the local police department did not handle the investigation with due diligence.

Fischer's response during the week when the school was criticized for handing out a half-game suspension reeked with pomposity.

"We're in charge. It's our team. That's what we thought. We went with the consequences, and we're ready to move on," he said.

He should know that was similar to what Goodell was saying about the NFL before his sea legs collapsed under public criticism.

You would think Winston would be leery of making jokes regarding the purpose of the female anatomy. It leaves us to conclude he believes he is beyond reproach because of his football skills.

Reports FSU students who tweeted about Winston's latest antics were being verbally harassed gives the sense that this is a college campus drunk on football.

FSU also is under federal investigation for possibly violating Title IX regulations that order rape accusations be handled in a timely manner.

It had no choice but to suspend Winston.

This is more about FSU than the 20-year-old. And the school did him a favor because it might wake him up.

Georgia Cappelman, the chief assistant state attorney, told the New York Times, "I believe that Mr. Winston cannot be convicted (on the sexual assault charge). I don't necessarily believe that he is innocent."

With his immature transgressions, Winston has not done anything to refute that statement. His other transgressions include allegedly causing more than $4,000 worth of property damage in a local apartment complex because of a BB gun fight, stealing a coke and stealing crab legs at a local supermarket

Those incidents could be considered trivial except they are coming from a person who was involved in a sexual assault case that smells of a cover-up.

You would think Winston faces school code of conduct violations regarding his latest incident and perhaps the initial alleged sexual assault encounter.

Halting violence against women on college campuses has become a movement that is gathering more men to its cause. Unfortunately, Winston doesn't seem to understand what is going on.

Maybe FSU is finally doing the right thing in delivering him a wake-up call.

Is he listening?

Alan Dell, Herald sports writer, can be reached at 941-745-7056. Follow him on Twitter @ADellSports.

This story was originally published September 21, 2014 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Commentary | FSU finally did the right thing with Winston, even if it caved under pressure."