Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Jameis Winston brings spotlight to Alabama hometown for draft

Published Apr. 30, 2015 8:16 p.m. ET

foxsports

BESSEMER, Ala. (AP) -- Camera crews filed in and out of Hueytown High School to take pictures of Jameis Winston's retired No. 8 jersey and get footage before his NFL draft celebration.

Everyone was in town on Thursday to see Winston.

The former Florida State national champion quarterback, 2013 Heisman Trophy winner and top NFL prospect skipped the televised festivities in Chicago to celebrate the draft with family and friends in his Bessemer hometown, next door to Hueytown.

And he did it in grand style.

The celebration was held in a spacious house of a Winston family friend with a fountain in the front, a huge Winston banner on one side and tables in the back for guests, including Seminoles coach Jimbo Fisher. Traffic on the normally serene tree-lined road moved at a crawl. The scene had the feel of what was happening hundreds of miles away in Chi-Town.

This, however, was all just for Winston.

He arrived at the house at 8:01, then minutes later the moment came. Commissioner Roger Goodell stepped to the podium in Chicago and ended the suspense, saying, "With the first pick in the 2015 NFL draft, the Tampa Buccaneers select Jameis Winston, quarterback, from Florida State."

Fisher beamed like a proud father before the pick was announced.

"It's just a great night," Fisher said. "It's a night to be joyful and happy for him."

Earlier in the day, driving around Winston's small, football-loving hometown there were no obvious signs of the upcoming celebration. Though plenty of people in these suburban Birmingham communities with a combined population of about 43,000 planned to watch the draft and see if the Buccaneers would make Winston the No. 1 overall pick.

"Just like we watched Bo Jackson," said Bessemer's Harry W. Carey.

Jackson is another Heisman-winning superstar who hails from Bessemer -- and incidentally went No. 1 in the 1986 draft, to the Bucs.

Holly Adams, who taught Winston AP physics in 2011 at Hueytown High, said she hasn't heard much buzz about the draft.

"Not really just because it's become such a common thing in Hueytown to hear about Jameis," Adams said. "But any time you get introduced to someone and they say, `Oh, this person teaches at Hueytown' or `she's from Hueytown,' that's the first thing they ask you. Do you know Jameis? Did you teach Jameis."

She remembers Winston for his "huge personality" and for his conscientious efforts to keep up with his school work even when he was traveling on recruiting trips.

Winston, though, remains a polarizing figure even in his hometown.

He was involved in several highly publicized off the field incidents while at Florida State, including the infamous crab legs caper. A former FSU student also has filed a lawsuit against Winston, accusing him of rape, assault, false imprisonment and emotional distress. Winston has said the sex was consensual and was never arrested or charged.

"Off the field ... people will be shocked with how he represents" the Bucs, Fisher said.

Even those who expressed concern seem to be pulling for him.

Michael Raymond, a big Alabama fan from nearby Oak Grove, has mixed feelings about Winston, citing other incidents during the quarterback's college career. He worries that "it's almost a Johnny Manziel thing going on."

He added, "being a quarterback, since they're the key to everything, they're willing to risk that kind of investment on somebody that could be a bust. I hope he's not."

Carey went to many of Winston's games at neighboring Hueytown and his nephew was a childhood friend of the quarterback. He believes Winston deserves another chance.

"We're all capable of making mistakes in life, but we should not hold that against him," said Carey, while having lunch at a Hueytown barbecue restaurant. "We're all human. We're capable of doing things and learning from the mistakes we make in life.

"He's going to make a difference in the game."