Back to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Newsfeed

Jameis Winston works hard to win over critics on, off field

Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston (3) takes the field before a football game between the Chicago Bears and Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla., on Sunday, Dec. 27, 2015. LOREN ELLIOTT | Times

He wasn't ready. With one open heart surgery behind him, T.J. Coy wasn't ready for more stitches and swelling and shivers. The email came as he and his mother, Stephanie, sat in a hotel in Gainesville in October waiting to check him into Shands at the University of Florida hospital so doctors could replace a valve to treat his congenital heart defect.