We had Stanford coach David Shaw on
The Audible a few weeks back, and he spoke a little about Winston, his intelligence and how close he was to coming to Stanford. Ultimately, it wasn’t intelligence or ability that kept Winston from joining the Cardinal. It was simply proximity to his home in Alabama, which made FSU a better fit.
It’s understandable why people underestimate Winston’s intellect. He talks with a casual, country slang and has repeatedly made decisions — stealing from a grocery store, screaming an obscene and offensive joke in the FSU student union, on and on — that would make you think he’s an idiot. All of this leads to a 27 on the Wonderlic being a shock.
"They don’t know [how smart Winston is]," Shaw said on The Audible. "But again, that’s on Jameis. What are you presenting to people? You’re presenting something and they’re making judgments on it, and you can’t blame them because that’s what you’ve shown them. It’s on every individual. If you’re presenting something you don’t believe is who you really are, that’s not other peoples’ fault. That’s your fault. You need to be constantly putting out what you truly believe about yourself."
Shaw is completely right on that point, of course, which is why he wouldn’t be surprised at the reactions to Winston’s Wonderlic score. The player has created this perception. But this is also true: Winston’s ability to consume information, calculate it on the field and perform does not bring questions. Only his off-field decision-making does. He is plenty smart and talented enough to be a great NFL QB.