"I can do anything I put my mind to."
That was a phrase heard and echoed earlier this week by a group of students as well as Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston, who made a scheduled appearance at an elementary school in St. Petersburg, Fla.
"All my boys stand up, all my ladies you can sit down."
That - also - was a phrase heard by that same group of students listening to the 23-year-old quarterback.
I understand the need for a palpable outrage and the need to express dissent at having a man speak to students just a few years removed from accusations of sexual assault which were levied against him as a star athlete at Florida State University.
I also understand that in the knee-jerk reaction we all have to want to spark debate and create a narrative whereby nobody is ever freed from the social media status of "convicted before tried", Winston is the current lightning rod.
Winston might be a bad guy. Though no formal charges were ever filed as a result of those aforementioned accusations, there will always remain a cloud of doubt as to how FSU officials handled those accusations and the investigation which led to the school reaching a financial settlement of nearly $1 million to former student Erica Kinsman, who sued Winston for sexual battery, assault, false imprisonment, and intentional infliction of emotional distress arising out of forcible rape.”
All this being said, no one is going to sit here - myself included - and suggest it was a good idea to have Winston speak to elementary school students.
But I'm not going to hold him accountable for the words he used. Because the words, as unfortunate as they appear, it can safely be argued never should have been heard by children in the first place.
I'm outraged that anyone in charge of functions at this school thought for a moment that this was a good idea.
Are we still that tone deaf to the idea of accountability? Because as logical a reaction it is to be bothered by Winston's comments, it also stands to reason that someone should be held accountable for deciding it was a fine move to have Winston - as well as the baggage which will always follow him - speaking to 3rd, 4th and 5th graders?
If we're going to nitpick everything Winston says and does off the field because of an incident which may or may not have happened nearly 5 years ago, then we should also be able to point fingers at those who signed off on letting the man speak to those students.