If Jameis Winston did sign memorabilia for money, Florida State isn’t in any hurry to track that information down.
According to Darren Rovell, an in-depth search of the verification page on the authentication website holding the Winston memorabilia reveals the company has authenticated more than 2,000 signatures by the Heisman Trophy winner.
James Spence, the authentication company’s owner, told ESPN Thursday he will not reveal the identity or identities of the customers who submitted the signed Winston items for authentication. Spence also won’t verify the number of items because he says his database is not searchable by name.
But Spence does stand by his company’s opinion that the signatures are real. Spence also said that no one at his company has any knowledge of whether the clients who submitted the Winston items paid the Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback for his signatures.
Spence said that as of noon on Thursday, no officials from Florida State had called to inquire how Spence’s company authenticated as many signatures as it did. ESPN reported earlier this week that Florida State’s compliance department was looking into how so many Winston signatures were submitted to JSA.
Because he is a star on the gridiron and baseball field, Winston has signed a lot more autographs than most college football stars.
Many skeptics believe that Winstons signatures took place at an organized event that he may have been paid for.
“No one who is not a dealer is going to submit that many autographs at one time,” said Matt Powers of Powers Collectibles in Kansas City, which sells the autographs of more than 1,000 athletes. “But besides the number, the giveaway of the JSA authenticated items that you can see on eBay, that suggests it was a sit-down signing, as the consistency of autograph, the cleanliness of the autograph and the fact that the autograph is signed in the perfect place over and over.”
“Jameis might have signed a lot of autographs, but when he is doing so in public, he’s not 100 percent focused,” Powers continued. “Someone might be chatting with him, he might be signing with different pens on different surfaces like on someone’s hand or shoulder. What’s out there being sold is just too good.”