From The New Yorker · Louisa Thomas · · 2m
The Jameis Winston Experience
The Giants' backup quarterback defies easy judgment: brilliant and reckless, faithful and baffling, winning games while throwing interceptions.
In brief
The Giants' backup quarterback defies easy judgment: brilliant and reckless, faithful and baffling, winning games while throwing interceptions. Jameis Winston, thirty-two, has led the New York Giants to a three-one record as starter after Jaxson Dart's season-ending knee injury, embodying a pattern of daring…
Winston's win over Arizona
New York Giants quarterback Jameis Winston led the team to a thirty-six to twenty-four victory over the Arizona Cardinals last Sunday. He threw three touchdowns and two interceptions in the game.
The Winston experience defined
CBS sideline reporter Aditi Kinkhabwala called the game a prime example of the Jameis Winston experience.
Winston's faith-based response
When asked how he recovered from his mistakes, Winston quoted Philippians three thirteen, saying he was forgetting what was behind him and reaching forward to what was ahead.He credited God with willing the Giants' victory.
“Philippians 3:13 states this, and you have to do it, no matter the circumstances, conditions, or facts.”
Winston's early promise and trouble
Winston was drafted first overall by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in two thousand fifteen after winning the Heisman as a nineteen-year-old freshman at Florida State.
Rape allegation and settlement
Winston was accused of rape, which he strongly denied and was neither fully investigated nor criminally charged for.
The pattern emerges
Winston's first pass as a Buccaneer was intercepted for a pick-six.Later that season he threw five touchdowns in one game.
Historic season, disappointing tenure
In two thousand nineteen, Winston became the first N.F.L.player to throw thirty touchdowns and thirty interceptions in the same season.He also led the league in passing yards.
Winston's journey to the Giants
Winston played for the New Orleans Saints and Cleveland Browns before joining the New York Giants last year as third-string quarterback behind Russell Wilson and Jaxson Dart.
Dart's season-ending injury
Giants starting quarterback Jaxson Dart, twenty-three, tore his knee during a game against the Los Angeles Rams and required season-ending surgery.
Winston takes over, wins games
Winston was brought into a game against the Titans and the Giants won twelve to seven.A week later against the Cardinals, the Giants won again.
The future waits in the wings
The Giants traded a fifth-round draft pick to the Minnesota Vikings for quarterback J.J.McCarthy, twenty-three, a former first-rounder with national-championship pedigree.
Winning washes away sins
Giants coach John Harbaugh, who signed a five-year contract worth one hundred million dollars in January, said winning teams find ways to win games.
“That's what winning is. That's what winning teams do, they find ways to win games.”
At a glance
Jameis Winston, thirty-two, has led the New York Giants to a three-one record as starter after Jaxson Dart's season-ending knee injury, embodying a pattern of daring brilliance and costly mistakes that has defined his eleven-year career.
