In the era of the grievance mongers it’s hard to find any issue – big or small – that someone isn’t screaming racism about. Sports often mirrors society and that is the case in the NFL where legitimate criticism of league MVP Cam Newton’s big game Super Bowl choke and subsequent sulking at the postgame press conference triggered howls of racism as well as a racially motivated smear campaign against winning QB Peyton Manning. Now a backup receiver for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers is claiming that critics of former Florida State Seminole thug Jameis Winston were based on whitey’s desire to see the black man kept down.

CBS Sports is reporting that “Bucs receiver: Race is why media labels Winston ‘a bad person’ and not Manziel”:

Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston arrived in Tampa a year ago with plenty of questions. While at Florida State, Winston was investigated for sexual assault but never charged, caught shoplifting crab legs and suspended for one game after yelling an obscenity in the student union.

Bucs general manager Mark Licht even told TheMMQB.com’s Peter King, “I’d be lying if I said I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about the off-field stuff,” in the months leading up to the 2015 NFL Draft. But Winston was a model citizen as a rookie, and he showed glimpses of why Tampa selected him with the first overall pick.

In an article for The Undefeated, Alex Kennedy writes that Winston’s teammates continue to come to his defense, and have praised his character in the process. But the most controversial quote, from teammate Louis Murphy, on why Winston is perceived differently than other young players didn’t make the final edit. Kennedy tweeted out the quote later, though it appears to have since been deleted. Deadspin posted a screencap of the tweet in question.

“That’s just how the media plays it; you would think Johnny Manziel is this freaking great kid, but he’s f–ing terrible,” Murphy said, according to Kennedy. “Jameis didn’t do half of the s— that [Johnny] has done. And I’m sorry, excuse my language, but I’m just passionate about it.

“It really frustrates me to see the media try to make a guy out to be a bad person, just because of the color of his skin. That’s not right. If you’re a different color, it’s like, ‘Oh, it’s not a big deal.’ But if you’re a black kid who makes a mistake or gets falsely accused, they’re going to make it seem like the kid is terrible.

There is nothing that quite sets the tone for the upcoming season than trying to set off a racial shit storm before training camp even starts. It is important to recall – as Murphy doesn’t – that there were serious questions as to Winston’s character due to his alleged rape of a female student while at FSU. Not that authorities in Tallahassee or in the university administration would ever look the other way and risk losing out on bowl money but the superstar got off although the sexual assault charges hovered over Winston like a dark cloud. Not to mention the theft of crab legs from a grocery store and then lying about it as well as standing on a table in a crowded area and shouting I’m going to “fuck her right in the pussy”.  At the time there were legitimate questions as to whether the youngster could stay out of trouble once he rolled into Tampa after he was drafted first overall.

To Winston’s credit he kept his nose clean last year and outperformed expectations under the coaching tutelage of offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter who so impressed ownership that clueless stumblebum Lovie Smith was shown the door with Koetter getting the head coaching gig. Manziel didn’t have anything near a rape allegation hanging over his head coming out of college and while he has certainly out-scumbagged Winston in the pros it wasn’t until well after the draft that the miscreant former Cleveland Brown imploded.  So Murphy is full of shit and is only engaging on divisive and unnecessary race baiting but that’s just they way that we roll in Obamastan anymore.

The one who will end up being hurt the most by this nonsense is Winston himself who in his second season had an opportunity to make great strides in both his game and his reputation and put the old scandals behind him – until Louis Murphy opened his big mouth that is.