No NCAA or NFL Draft implications should come of this.
In an interview (above) on ESPN's Draft Academy show, Jameis Winston revealed that the Publix crab legs for which he received a shoplifting citation were a hookup -- something long expected by many who attended college or had a friend work in a service industry. Here is the text of the conversation between Winston and Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh.
Winston: How I'm supposed to handle, like, if I just got them for free? I just say, ‘I just messed up?’
Jim Harbaugh If someone gave them to you for free?"
Winston: "Well, a week before it was my buddy's birthday and we had got a cake and we met a dude that worked inside Publix and he said, 'Hey, anytime you come in here, I got you.' So that day we just walked out and he hooked us up with that. And when I came in to get crab legs, I did the same thing and he just gave them to me and I walked out. And someone from inside the store had told the security that I didn't pay for them. And that's how the whole thing started.
Receiving free food is a potential NCAA violation, the penalty of which would likely be retroactively paying for the items (which Winston did, making restitution to the store, along with some community service). He also was suspended from the baseball team as the incident occurred during baseball season. While fans of FSU's rivals might crow about NCAA issues, nothing is expected to come of this incident.
Winston is widely expected to be the No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft due to his size, arm strength, accuracy and ability to process and understand route combinations within a pro-style offense. Recently, SB Nation's Dan Kadar collected 20 mock drafts and all 20 had Winston as the No. 1 pick.
A college grocery store hookup is not expected to have any impact on Winston's draft stock.