The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are killing off Jameis Winston's baseball dreams for him.
Sports Illustrated is reporting that the Buccaneers — fresh off selecting the quarterback as the top overall pick in the 2015 NFL Draft on Thursday night — added a stipulation into Winston's contract, banning him from also pursuing a professional baseball career. Sorry ... no more diamond dreams, Jameis.
Can you really blame them? After interviewing 75 different people in more than 100 man hours of time for Winston's background check, drafting him first and signing him to a four-year, $24.3 million deal — including a $16.6 million signing bonus — the last thing the Bucs would want is Winston not completely focused on football. Thus, the no-baseball rule, according to an SI report.
Don't forget that in addition to leading Florida State to a national title and winning a Heisman Trophy, Winston also starred for the Seminoles' baseball team. He put together a good-enough body of work over two baseball seasons to be selected in the 15th round of the 2012 MLB draft by the Texas Rangers. Technically, he's eligible to be selected again in this year's draft next month. But that's not going to happen due to this Tampa Bay contract clause.
Jameis Winston's final baseball stats as a closer for Florida State: 60 1/3 innings, 1.08 ERA, 0.92 WHIP, 52 strikeouts, nine saves.
— Adam Levitan (@adamlevitan) May 4, 2015
Hey, baseball was fun while it lasted, right, Jameis? All football from here on out, though.
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