After the Tampa Bay Buccaneers formally announced that they had selected Jameis Winston with the top overall pick in the 2015 NFL Draft, the former Florida State star was supposed to immediately give an interview with Tom Rinaldi of ESPN. So why didn’t he?
The NFL, ESPN and the NFL Network have an agreement in place where the two networks alternate each year for who gets the first interview with the top overall pick after he is taken off the board. NFL Network interviewed Jadeveon Clowney after the Houston Texans took him first overall last year and also got the first shot at Winston this year.
According to Richard Deitsch of Sports Illustrated, Winston’s camp intentionally chose to snub ESPN because they were unhappy with the World Wide Leader’s pre-draft coverage of Winston. Therefore, Winston gave his first — and most important — interview with Steve Wyche of the NFL Network and later spoke to Rinaldi.
“On the night Jameis joined the NFL, it was simply our preference that his first interview be with NFL Network,” Winston’s agent Greg Genske told SI.com. “A few seconds later, Jameis enjoyed his interview with Tom Rinaldi and looks forward to future interviews with ESPN.”
To make matters worse, Winston took his interview with ESPN so late that it wasn’t even aired until after the first round of the draft was complete. Deitsch noted that ESPN executives decided the interview wasn’t even worth showing six-plus picks into the draft.
We know Winston is one of the most heavily-criticized prospects in NFL history, and that was evident again when he posted this photo on Instagram after he was drafted. I’m sure ESPN covered a lot of his off-field issues, but did they harp on it more than other media outlets? Winston apparently felt they did.
