Even in punishment, Florida State lets Jameis Winston retain power

If Jameis Winston thought he was untouchable before, just you wait. If you thought the ethically pliable cocoon of Florida State football had enabled him before, well, you probably haven't seen anything yet.

By suspending Winston for the first of half of Saturday's game against Clemson, Florida State has not punished him but rather given him the opportunity to become an even bigger martyr for its fan base, to enhance his legend as a Seminole deity, to save the season and perhaps another national title. Under the guise of penalty, Florida State has instead given Winston an opportunity to stand there on national television Saturday night in front of an adoring home crowd and talk about overcoming "adversity."

Again.

Some punishment, huh?

Sure, maybe Saturday is when it all comes crashing down on Winston. Perhaps sitting out the first half will leave Florida State in too deep of a hole, Clemson will take advantage and the Seminoles' tremendous run of 18 consecutive wins will end.

More likely, though, it'll play out the other way. Florida State will struggle with backup quarterback Sean Maguire. Clemson will come out fired up, take the early lead and be in position to win the game at halftime. Then, as Winston trots out for the first series of the second half, more than 82,000 fans at Doak Campbell Stadium will give him a standing ovation, Florida State's offense will come alive, and the Seminoles will roll on with very little damage done.

And more than anything, Winston's singular importance to the enterprise of Florida State football will be underlined yet again for everyone from athletics director Stan Wilcox on down to Jimbo Fisher and Winston himself.

You know that Wilcox and Fisher went into this season just holding their breath, hoping against hope that Winston could make it another 4½ months without another incident. Then they could usher him off to the NFL, spend the spring media circuit prattling on about how much he had matured and genuflect in all the life lessons they taught him along the way.

That is not the way it will happen now, regardless of what else transpires between now and the end of the season. At the very moment Deadspin collected a series of Tweets from Florida State students who witnessed Winston standing on a table shouting a terribly vulgar phrase Tuesday, the narrative about Winston growing up or getting the message died once and for all. It's done.

Reputation-wise, there is no coming back from this. His résumé of missteps, large and small, cannot be washed away by the phony humility and contrived smile that have gotten him through all the other predicaments in which he has found himself. Winston is what he is.

But as obvious as it's been to everyone outside the Florida State bubble that an intervention is long overdue, those inside have spent the last year peering out wondering why the rest of us just don't get it.

He's a kid, they said. He was never charged with anything, they reminded us, and by the way, they pointed out, there were plenty of inconsistencies in her stories too. Crab legs, they laughed? Come on, innocent mistake (And by the way, they whispered, being suspended from three baseball games is a much bigger deal than you realize.)

It never registered, of course, not at a school where the football coach's power has been unrivaled and unchallenged over the last year. As the Winston story was taking on a life of its own last winter, university president Eric Barron was turning himself into a lame duck, resigning officially in February. Wilcox, a rookie athletics director, didn't even get to Tallahassee until after the start of last football season, at which point the Winston phenomenon had already begun to take off. Even if he was inclined to take control of the situation last fall, he didn't have enough gravitas to do anything drastic in the middle of a run to the national title.

Meanwhile, the cash registers have been ringing ever since Winston lifted the Seminoles to No. 1. Florida State, a program that for a long time was way behind in the facilities race, has caught up quickly (that new locker room really is a thing of beauty). A few months after a national title and a Heisman Trophy certainly isn't a bad time for any athletic department to announce a $250 million fundraising campaign.

It's interesting that the sudden shift from Florida State only comes in the midst of a renewed interest from the federal government over whether it has been compliant with Title IX in investigating sexual assault allegations – including the one directed at Winston last year.

With that still hanging over the university, not to mention other recent incidents bringing light to how high-profile athletes treat women, the optics of Winston yelling that kind of vulgar, degrading phrase in a public setting probably aren't particularly welcome at this point in time.

Still, suspending him for a half is a classic cop-out. Florida State is doing something just harsh enough to quote-unquote "send a message," but not quite enough to actually put itself in danger of losing to Clemson.

And after it's over, Winston will apologize again, say he's grown up and promise he'll start making better decisions.

This time, fewer people will actually believe him. But as long as Fisher and Wilcox are still two of them, the only lesson he'll actually learn is that otherwise powerful institutions and people will still bend to his will, as long as he can throw the football. ​