Florida State’s Jameis Winston should have been ejected for shoving official

Shameis on Jameis.

Yes, I’m fully aware that the defending national champion, Heisman Trophy winning quarterback led No. 3 Florida State to another comeback win Saturday, pulling out a not-so-pretty 20-17 win over Boston College. 

What also wasn’t pretty was what Jameis Winston did to an official in the second half. 

Here was the situation: Florida State had the ball, second-and-4 from the Boston College 47-yard line with 5:18 left in the third quarter. The score was tied at 17.

After the first-down play, the Seminoles made a substitution so the defense had the right to substitute as well, even in a hurry-up offense. The center judge, Michael Webster, was doing his job, standing behind the center putting his hand on Winston to keep him from snapping the ball. Winston came to the line of scrimmage and literally pushed Webster twice in an attempt to snap the ball. He did snap the ball, by the way, and completed a 7-yard pass to Dalvin Cook. 

I’ve looked at this play several times, and in my opinion, Winston should have been penalized for shoving Webster not once, but twice. In fact, I feel he should have been ejected.

Contact with an official can clearly lead to an ejection. Webster was doing his job, which was to hold the snap until the referee cleared him in this situation. Winston clearly pushes him out of the way so he can get the snap off. 

That’s a foul, folks. 

The announcers laughed and called what Winston did priceless. Winston later said, “It was a fast-tempo play and I was just trying to get up under there and let it ride.”

However, I think Winston should have paid the price for a foul and should have been ejected.