Jameis Winston says items in question have forged signatures
One of the many things Jameis Winston has been accused of over the past two years is selling autographs. Last month, a report indicated that Winston was being investigated by Florida State’s compliance department over several signed items that were supposedly authenticated by a company called James Spence Authentication.
According to Winston, the autographs in question are fakes.
The Palm Beach Post reports that Winston identified several items with signatures on them as forgeries. He went through thousands of items listed on the JSA website and said that he never signed them and that the autograph on them was not his signature.
On Tuesday, ESPN’s Outside the Lines reported that JSA received thousands of Winston items after they had been rejected by another authentication firm because of concerns over their legitimacy. The report explains how the deal was brokered, and there are more than a few shady details.
James Spence reiterated earlier this week that he has full confidence the items are authentic, but two autograph analysts told Outside the Lines that they could not vouch for the authenticity of the JSA items.
Needless to say, this story doesn’t appear to have much legs. Winston has been caught doing a lot of stupid things, but I doubt anyone can prove he signed the aforementioned memorabilia.