Jameis Winston, outgoing Carolina Panthers owner disciplined for sexual harassment

Here at Foul Play-by-Play we investigate foul play on and off the field, court, ice and pitch, giving you the week's cheats, cheap shots and alleged criminals in sports. Here are the headlines for the last two weeks ending July 1.
Headline 1: Jameis Winston Suspended Three Games for Allegedly Groping Uber Driver
Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston has been suspended for the first three games of the 2018 season for allegedly groping an Uber driver over two years ago. Winston has denied the allegations and negotiated a six-game suspension down to three games for issuing an apology, during which Winston never admitted guilt. He said he was sorry to have put her in that position but not for sexually assaulting her.

The suspension stems from an alleged incident that occurred in March of 2016, a couple of months after the end of Winston's rookie season in the NFL. After partying with friends in Scottsdale, Arizona, Winston ended up in an Uber. The driver of that car, whose identity still has never been revealed, alleges that Winston grabbed her crotch while they were waiting in a restaurant drive-thru lane. She did not and has not pressed charges but reported the incident to Uber, which deactivated Winston’s account shortly after.

The NFL was made aware of the incident after the accuser shared her story with BuzzFeed News. Witnesses have differing testimonies of the night in question, with Winston’s former Florida State teammate Ronald Darby saying he was in the Uber that night and that “nothing inappropriate in nature happened in the car that evening and Jameis did not have any physical contact with the Uber driver.” But former Vanderbilt football player Brandon Banks, serving a 15-year prison sentence for rape and sexual battery, said he and Darby put Winston in the Uber alone that night.
Headline 2: Outgoing Carolina Panthers Owner Fined $2.75 Million for Workplace Misconduct
In similarly ugly NFL news of foul play off the field, outgoing Carolina Panthers owner Jerry Richardson was fined $2.75 million after an investigation confirmed allegations of racial and sexual misconduct in the workplace.

In a letter to Richardson published by Sports Illustrated, one of the women said she “didn't know what to do” about alleged multiple sexual advances by Richardson, including being asked to place her feet in his lap to be rubbed from toes to crotch, being asked to turn around so Richardson could see how her jeans fit, hands placed on her breasts and lips, and being asked sexually charged questions.

The sale of the Panthers to hedge fund billionaire David Tepper was approved at the owners meetings in May for an NFL-record $2.275 billion and is expected to close in the next two weeks. Richardson and investors paid just $203 million for the franchise in 1993.

One thing I’ve taken from the Me Too movement is that the victims of sexual harassment place vastly different values on their privacy. I think I would bring charges regardless of how much money there was to be won in a sexual assault or harassment case. But some of these victims would rather remain anonymous and tell BuzzFeed for an unannounced amount of money. What would you do?
Headline 3: Detroit Tigers Fire Pitching Coach for Using “Monkey” to Describe White Pitcher
The Detroit Tigers fired pitching coach Chris Bosio for using insensitive language towards a team employee, but the whole thing could be a misunderstanding that results in legal action taken by Bosio against the team.

Bosio said he used the word  “monkey” to describe Tigers pitcher Daniel Stumpf in the team’s coaches’ room. Bosio calls Stumpf “Spider Monkey.” “That’s his nickname,” he said, “He's a skinny little white kid who makes all of these funny faces when he works out.”

Bosio believes the black clubhouse attendant thought he and the other coach were talking about him, but he insists that was not the case, swearing on his parents’ graves in an interview with USA Today.