Jameis Winston is having a year to forget on the field for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and now, apparently, it is spilling into off-the-field activities as well. According to a CBS Sports report, the NFL is investigating a claim made by an Uber driver in Arizona against Winston, stemming from 2016. The Uber driver, only known as “Kate,” is claiming she was groped by the former Heisman Trophy winner and filed a complaint with her employer when the incident happened.

Drive-thru accusations

The alleged incident occurred back on March 13, 2016, in downtown Scottsdale, Arizona.

According to Kate, Winston was the only passenger and his friends put him in the front seat of her car at around 2 AM. Reports indicate that Winston acted inappropriately the entire trip, including shouting homophobic slurs at people on the sidewalk. After driving for a bit, he asked to stop to get something to eat at a fast food restaurant. While the two were waiting in the drive-thru line, Winston, in the words of Kate, “reached over and he just grabbed [her] crotch.” She said he held his hand there for three to five seconds until she looked at him and said, “What’s up with that?”

Winston denies charges via Twitter

This story, like all "he said, she said" accusations, can’t be judged until both sides are clearly heard.

However, in today’s day and age, social media is already chiming in. The Bucs quarterback took to Twitter to release a statement denying all accusations brought forward by Kate, and already he is getting a mixed bag of support and non-support across the board.

Winston included in his statement via Twitter: "I am supportive of the national movement to raise awareness and develop better responses to the concerns of parties who find themselves in these types of situations, but this accusation is false."

No matter what you call it, groping, sexual harassment, or inappropriate touching, the court of public opinion is not what counts.

What does count is for the truth to come to the surface as the story moves forward. The one thing that has many people raising an eyebrow at Winston is that he has had a sexual allegation brought against him before.

Back in 2012, Winston was accused of raping a fellow student at Florida State University, which both he and the female accuser attended. Winston claimed the two had consensual sex. The woman later sued in 2015 and received $950,000 from Florida State University.

Hopefully, time will reveal the truth in these current allegations.
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