Pardon His Take: Jameis Winston tells stories about FSU during podcast appearance

Former Florida State national champion and Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Jameis Winston recently took part in a wide-ranging, lighthearted interview on Barstool Sports podcast “Pardon My Take,” which was released on Monday.

Along with discussing many other topics, the always-entertaining Winston also took some time to look back at his time at Florida State. Here are some of those comments:

On Jimbo Fisher in those early days at Florida State:

“Jimbo had a lot to prove. Jimbo, he was coming from LSU — he was filling in the steps of Bobby Bowden, the legend coach, and this is Florida State. Like, I get it, Florida State isn’t in the SEC, but historically this has been a dominant college. And for you to fill up the shoes of Bobby Bowden, and for people to always connect you to Nick Saban your entire career, you have a chip on you shoulder to say, ‘I’m gonna accomplish something. … I instantly knew Jimbo and I were cut from the same cloth because Jimbo wanted a championship. He was going to do whatever he could to get that.”

On the reaction back home when he chose Florida State:

“I’m a kid from Alabama. I’m 35 minutes from Alabama. Listen, people, when I committed to Florida State, the things that happened to me and my family was unbelievable. Living in the state of Alabama, 35 minutes from Tuscaloosa, I mean my mailbox getting beat down. … I still don’t have grass that grows in my front yard at my hometown house. I still don’t because I felt like somebody poisoned my grass. … I smelt gasoline when we got home. … Fans would send my grandmother — my grandmother — hate mail.”

On FSU letting him play baseball:

“Really the best thing he (Jimbo Fisher) did: His best friend was Mike Martin Jr. … They had a meeting with me. That’s a big thing, your football coach. Man, you believe in me that much you are going to let me play baseball? You’re gonna say that the baseball coach is your best friend, and we’re sitting there eating together, breaking bread together. I get to talk football and baseball. But what did I want to accomplish in college? I wanted to win a national championship. And if I could do that in football and baseball, ‘Yes, I’m going to Florida State.'”

On the one school that wouldn’t let him play baseball:

“The only team that said I couldn’t play baseball was Florida. The Florida Gators. … I’m at Florida, and we were on this recruiting trip. And man, I win the MVP of the camp. I show out. I walk up to … that’s probably why I don’t know his name, because he told me I couldn’t play baseball. This is the offensive coordinator of the Florida Gators. This ain’t even the head coach. I’m not even talking to the head coach. The offensive coordinator told me, ‘You ain’t gonna be able to play baseball here.’ And I said, ‘Oh, OK, I probably won’t go here.'”

On Florida State beating home-state Auburn for the national title:

“I was like, ‘Man, I’m gonna take this chance. … The opportunity to go to Florida State and team up with Jimbo, who is an offensive mind, and be around those players and dominate and go against the SEC — you know how great it was. And it was crazy. It was great to beat Auburn in the national championship … I wish it was Alabama. That probably would’ve given me a little more street cred.”

On his relationship with childhood hero Bo Jackson:

“The first time I talked to Bo Jackson was after I won the Heisman. … But he was calling me … man, this man, he called me. And I don’t know what booster from Auburn was in his pocket or in his ear, but he would call me at all times of the night. Like wanting to talk. Saying like, ‘Hey, this is Uncle Bo, just calling to check in on you.”… After the national championship, I didn’t hear from him again. The next time I heard from him was at a Panini (collectibles) signing. … He was really doing everything he could for Auburn. He knew I loved him, and he’s gone call me at all times of the night, inspiring me to whoop his team even more.”

On fellow Florida State Heisman winner Charlie Ward:

“That’s the crazy thing about Charlie Ward, where people don’t give him enough respect. He won the Heisman Trophy and didn’t get drafted. Oh, but hold on, but still got drafted in the first round in the NBA! Think about that.”

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The full interview starts around the 48:20 mark in this video:

Talk about this story with other die-hard Florida State football fans on the Tribal Council.