Racism Is a Problem in the NFL, but It Isn't Why People Hate Jameis Winston

A black teammate of Jameis Winston's says it is far from uncommon for Winston, and other black players around the NFL, to still hear numerous racial slurs when going to opposing stadiums.

"I've heard it with Jameis, and I know it's happened to many other black players over the past few years," said the Buccaneers player, who asked not to be identified.

"I've been called the N-word on almost a weekly basis in some [opposing] stadiums," he said. "It gets nasty, and it's gotten worse in the past two or three years."

The player estimated that 20 to 30 percent of the league's black players experience some type of racial hostility in stadiums while playing on the road. Another player said that number was slightly higher. 

In some ways, the fact that idiots yell slurs at games is not a surprise. Somewhat surprising, though, is that according to several players interviewed by Bleacher Report, the frequency and severity of the slurs have increased over the past four to five years. The players interviewed were all veterans with at least five years in the league.

This story became more relevant after The Undefeated's Alex Kennedy wrote a profile of Winston. The story mistakenly glossed over the rape allegations Winston faced while at Florida State and caused—rightfully so—quite a stir because of that.

One of the most interesting quotes to come out around the story was something The Undefeated didn't publish but Kennedy tweeted (h/t Deadspin), then deleted, after the story's publication. When Buccaneers wide receiver Louis Murphy was asked if it was still tough for black quarterbacks in the NFL, he told Kennedy, "Oh, for sure. Racism is still prevalent today. I don't want to get into it too much, but yeah, he deals with stuff [in rival stadiums]. Everybody deals with stuff. Racism is still alive. It's real."

Chris O'Meara/Associated Press

The players I spoke to—while hardly a scientific poll—believe that all players in the NFL face some type of verbal racial harassment at opposing stadiums. They don't believe quarterbacks get it more or less.

Also, Murphy said something else that's interesting. He said Winston is criticized more because he's black. That is, to me, patently stupid.

He added this: "That's just how the media plays it; you would think Johnny Manziel is this freaking great kid, but he's f--king terrible. Jameis didn't do half of the s--t that [Manziel] 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."

That is also, to me, patently stupid. No NFL player has been ripped to shreds in recent months and years more than Manziel.

Two things about Winston can be true. He can and does—similarly to other black players—face bigotry from fans at opposing stadiums. That is obviously disgraceful.

Yet the notion that he's not liked by fans or the media because he is black simply isn't true. He is not liked by a swath of both because he's viewed—rightfully so—as having been the beneficiary of a shoddy rape investigation by Florida State, at best, or a willfully shoddy one, at worst.

I'm not here to say what Winston deserves or doesn't deserve in terms of the law, or if fans or anyone else should forgive him. Not for me to decide.

I am here to say that lumping in the dislike of Winston with what could be an increase in racial hostility toward black players at opposing stadiums (and I know the evidence is anecdotal in the latter, but I believe it) is almost dangerous.

Again, it's unknown exactly how many players are subjected to verbal racial attacks. Maybe it's just a handful. But if these players are right—and they probably are—things are getting worse at opposing stadiums.

It's not hard to imagine that as the country has become more polarized, that polarization has trickled down to the sports level.

It's always been there, and decades ago it was even worse, but there might be a bit of regression happening. Hopefully I'm wrong about that.

But again, that's not why people dislike Winston.

This is something we'll see going forward with him—a difficult mix of responses to what he's done and been accused of doing, and a dislike for him for other reasons.

There will be people who love Winston. There will be people who hate him because he's not their quarterback. There will be people who hate him because he's black. And there will be people who hate him because he was accused of a heinous crime.

It might always be hard to tell what mix you're seeing when someone writes about him or talks about him.

It might be impossible.

Mike Freeman covers the NFL for Bleacher Report.