NFL looking into claim that Tampa Bay's Jameis Winston groped Uber driver

Bryan Armen Graham
Updated

  • NFL investigating claim that quarterback grabbed driver’s crotch in 2016

  • BuzzFeed News was first to report league’s investigation into incident

  • Winston categorically denies ‘false report’ in statement issued Friday

Jameis Winston
Jameis Winston of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers is alleged to have grabbed the crotch of an Uber driver in March 2016. Photograph: Don Juan Moore/Getty Images

The NFL is investigating an allegation that Jameis Winston, the 23-year-old franchise quarterback of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, grabbed a female Uber driver’s crotch last year in Arizona, the Guardian can confirm.

The incident is alleged to have taken place in Scottsdale in the early morning of 13 March 2016, when Winston was seated in the front seat of the vehicle as the lone passenger, and was first reported by BuzzFeed News.

The alleged victim, identified in the report only as Kate, said Winston “behaved poorly” from the start of the ride, including shouting homophobic slurs at pedestrians, before he asked to pull into the drive-thru line at Los Betos Mexican Food.

That’s when “[Winston] reached over and he just grabbed my crotch”, Kate told BuzzFeed, claiming that the quarterback kept his hand there for three to five seconds and only removed it when she looked up in shock and said: “What’s up with that?”

BuzzFeed obtained a letter sent by the NFL’s special counsel for investigations, Lisa Friel, to the alleged victim, which read: “The League has been informed that you may have been the victim of such a violation perpetrated by Tampa Bay Buccaneers player Jameis Winston. The league takes allegations of this nature very seriously and has opened an investigation into this matter.”

Kate did not report the incident to the authorities but did report it to Uber the following day, according to the BuzzFeed account, and the passenger, now identified as Winston, was banned from the ride-hailing company for his behavior.

An NFL representative confirmed the league was looking into the matter in a message to the Guardian on Friday, saying: “The allegation was shared with the NFL and we have reached out to Uber to request any information they may have.”

A representative for the Buccaneers echoed the league’s statement, saying: “We are in the process of obtaining further information regarding today’s media report. We take these matters seriously and are fully supportive of the investigation that is being conducted by the NFL.”

Winston’s representative at EAG Sports Management, Denise White, told the Guardian “they are adamant that this incident did not occur” and issued a statement on the quarterback’s behalf that characterized the allegation as “false” and disputed the account that Winston was the sole passenger in the vehicle.

“A news organization has published a story about me regarding an alleged incident involving a female Uber driver from approximately two years ago,” the statement read. “The story falsely accuses me of making inappropriate contact with this driver. I believe the driver was confused as to the number of passengers in the car and who was sitting next to her. The accusation is false, and given the nature of the allegation and increased awareness and consideration of these types of matters, I am addressing this false report immediately. At the time of the alleged incident, I denied the allegations to Uber, yet they still decided to suspend my account.”

Winston, who this month became the second-youngest player in league history to eclipse 10,000 career passing yards, was tipped as a dark-horse Most Valuable Player candidate entering his third professional season, but has struggled with his efficiency and a shoulder injury as the Buccaneers have slumped to a 3-6 record, good for last place in the NFC South.

The No 1 overall pick in the 2015 NFL draft after a decorated collegiate career, Winston has worked to rehabilitate his image after he was the subject of a high-profile sexual assault complaint by another student at Florida State.

He was never charged over the 2012 incident, and following an investigation the university found he had not violated the student code. Winston settled a lawsuit with the woman in December “to the satisfaction of the parties”.

In January 2016, FSU agreed to pay $950,000 to settle the Title IX lawsuit filed by the woman against the university.