Jameis Winston recalls nearly committing to Stanford football

Jameis Winston is Florida State through and through, but Stanford nearly signed the top QB recruit at the time.

The former Heisman Trophy winner admitted he nearly played for Stanford, rather than Florida State for his college career. If we’re playing revisionist history, Winston playing under David Shaw would’ve been a fascinating pairing at the time.

But that’s all we can do, like Winston, and just talk about the hypothetical.

“I was very close to going to Stanford in my mind, right,” Winston said on Pardon My Take. “Like Sanford was the dream school that I’ve always thought that I would be at playing baseball and football at because you just think about John Elway, right? So academically and athletically, I thought that was the epitome of going somewhere and playing football, but I knew that I could not be that far away from Alabama, you know?”

Winston might’ve been close to going out west, but he felt he would’ve been better off playing a little closer to home, which ultimately led him to Florida State.

“So Stanford, Florida State and LSU were my options, like they were my final options. I wanted to go to Texas,” Winston admitted. “I felt like that would have fit me well … But back to Stanford. Stanford. It would have been an excellent opportunity for me … I built some great relationships with some of the recruits that still were there. So I really was close to going, if I would have had the courage to take that trip.” 

Don’t forget though, Winston turned into a future No. 1 overall pick in the NFL Draft by winning a Heisman and national championship with Florida State. Seems to have worked out.

“It was more of a dream, like when I went out there on my official visit, coach David Shaw was there,” Winston said. “I got a chance to speak with Condoleezza Rice. Like, the experience was unmatched.”

At Florida State, Winston won a BCS National Championship in 2013 and finished his two years as a starter with 7,964 yards, 65 touchdowns, 28 interceptions and a 66% completion percentage. He also won the Heisman Trophy in 2013.

It remains to be seen where Winston will go in 2025 after 10 seasons of football and whether he’ll be a team’s starting quarterback for a few years or a bridge QB for a young and developing rookie.