According to ESPN, Florida State University is investigating whether or not reigning Heisman Trophy- winning quarterback Jameis Winston signed autographs for money.
Coach Jimbo Fisher approached Winston shortly after FSU's 38-20 victory over Syracuse on Saturday and asked him point blank if he signed autographs for money. According to an ESPN source, Winston said that he did not.
The investigation comes after Georgia's star running back Todd Gurley was suspended indefinitely after it was revealed that he was seeking money in exchange for signing hundreds of autographs for autograph-authentication business James Spence Authentication. That same company is now linked to Winston.
"A cursory search on JSA's website found more than 340 certified Winston autographs," write Darren Rovell and Mark Schlabach. "An additional search later on Monday revealed 600 more Winston autographs that had been authenticated and logged into the company's website verification system for a total of more than 950 autographs."
Fisher told reporters that he wasn't concerned about the issue. While FSU has not been contacted by the NCAA or the ACC regarding the matter, the university's compliance department is looking into how JSA was able to get such a large number of Winston signatures.
"Kids sign things all the time," Fisher said after Saturday's game. "So what do you want them to do, stop signing stuff? We could make them not have any fans from that standpoint and not sign for anybody. That's what it's going to come to, and that's a shame for college football, that somebody exploits a kid. Now if they're getting paid for it, then I don't have any knowledge of that. I don't believe Jameis did."
Fisher has maintained that Winston will not miss any game time while this matter unfolds.
"The facts are the facts," Fisher said. "There is no victim because there was no crime."
