In what was probably the worst kept secret in football, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers used their No. 1 draft pick Thursday night to select former Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston.
The Buccaneer brass, including the ownership of the Glazer family, head coach Lovie Smith and general manager Jason Licht, selected Winston, whose dazzling play on the field that led to a Heisman Trophy and a national championship was balanced by trouble off the field.
Smith and Licht have said repeatedly they are comfortable with the prospect of taking the 21-year-old, who was accused of — but never arrested or charged with — sexually assaulting an FSU student in 2012. The Glazer family, which owns the team, also is on record as being comfortable with the organization's vetting process.
Winston walked out of a supermarket without paying for $32 worth of crab legs and was suspended for three baseball games (Winston was a pitcher on the FSU baseball season in addition to playing football). Then, he missed a football game after climbing on a table in the FSU student union and shouting an "offensive and vulgar" comment about women.
"As much as you can, you just spend as much time with them," Smith said during the draft process. "And you talk to as many people as you possibly can and get information."
Licht said while the background work performed on Winston was exhaustive and necessary, he didn't find the process unsettling.
So with the selection finally done and Winston on his way to Tampa, what exactly are the Bucs getting?
In Winston, the Bucs will have a 6-foot-4, 231-pound signal caller who was electrifying while going 26-1 during his two-year college career. He threw for 7,000-plus yards and 65 touchdowns in two seasons in Tallahassee.
He has much coveted arm strength, accuracy and on-field leadership skills.
That package was tough to pass up for a team that went 2-14 a season ago and has not reached the post season since 2007. The Buccaneers have not won a playoff game since Super Bowl 37 in January 2003.
The Bucs ranked 29th in scoring and 30th in total offense last season, when quarterbacks Josh McCown and Mike Glennon combined to complete 57 percent of their passes with 21 touchdowns and 20 interceptions.
With a rare opportunity to land a potential franchise quarterback, the Bucs made a decision they felt they had to. And with everyone involved signing off on any character questions, that made it simply a football decision.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.