logo
Jameis Winston couldn't figure out why Marshon Lattimore held 2017 fight against him

Jameis Winston couldn't figure out why Marshon Lattimore held 2017 fight against him

USA Today31-07-2025
'He don't really like you like that'
The New Orleans Saints have a pretty intriguing history at the quarterback position ever since Drew Brees left a few years ago. From Jameis Winston to Trevor Siemian and Andy Dalton to Ian Book and Derek Carr, it has been a pretty wild ride for Saints fans.
Winston was an intriguing option for the team, as he was clearly a locker room favorite for many and quite talented, but injuries and the team's pursuit of other options led him to move on. It was rather interesting that the Saints even considered him initially, as he had a history of inciting an infamous 2017 fight between Marshon Lattimore and Mike Evans when he was quarterbacking the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
"Man, me and Marshon really had like," Winston paused, discussing his time with the Saints and history with Lattimore in an interview with Ryan Clark's The Pivot podcast, "A beef, until probably about like the fifth day of training camp, where I just kept talking, I was like, 'Marshon, you gonna be mad at me the whole time?' And, I'm talking at practice, and Mike Thomas is like, 'He don't really like you like that' because Marshon, like he wouldn't just say it."
Pulled from the game due to a sore shoulder and replaced by Ryan Fitzpatrick, Winston came in off the sideline after an incomplete pass, jawing and poking Lattimore in the back of the helmet. Lattimore turned to lightly shove Winston away, which Evans took as an excuse to launch a cheap shot and tackle his rival to the ground. At that point it became a fracas between both teams.
He tried to recruit the help of Lattimore's former high school teammate Justin Hardee, who was a member of the Saints at the time. Ultimately, they were able to work through their differences and work together towards the common goal. It's not uncommon for players to suit up for rival teams, but bad blood like this has always been something intriguing to think about when Winston first came to New Orleans, so hearing him discuss it at length is a pretty fun topic.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

19 days until Saints season opener: Every player to wear No. 19
19 days until Saints season opener: Every player to wear No. 19

USA Today

time2 hours ago

  • USA Today

19 days until Saints season opener: Every player to wear No. 19

Tom Dempsey, Devery Henderson, and Ted Ginn Jr. highlight the list of Saints who have worn No. 19 Only 19 days separate us from the 2025 season opener with the Arizona Cardinals visiting the New Orleans Saints. Kicker Blake Grupe wears No. 19 for the Saints, hoping to hold off competition from Charlie Smyth for a third year in the jersey. Of course, Grupe is not even the most famous kicker to wear No. 19 with New Orleans. Here is every Saints player to wear that jersey. Saints' History of No. 19 Quarterback was actually the first position to sport No. 19 when Gary Wood did it in the Saints inaugural 1967 campaign. Wood appeared in only two games as a backup, completing 5 of 11 throws for 62 yards. The most famous Saint to wear this number was kicker Tom Dempsey. Born without toes on his kicking foot, Dempsey played with a specially designed shoe but overcame all that to have an 11-year NFL career. Two of those years were spent in New Orleans, where he made a Pro Bowl in 1969 with 33 extra points and an NFL-high 41 field goals attempted, including one made from 55 yards. Of course, it was a kick in 1970 that sent Dempsey into NFL lore. It was a 63-yard game-winner against the Detroit Lions and an NFL-record that stood for over 40 years. In 1989, Dempsey became the first kicker to be inducted into the Saints Hall of Fame. Decades before the versatile jack-of-all-trades Taysom Hill, there was Guido Merkens. After coming over from the Houston Oilers, Merkens wore No. 26 for one season before switching to No. 19 and the offensive side. Primarily a wide receiver after the switch, Merkens also filled in at quarterback, running back, returned punts, and even filled in at punter. Merkens had 32 receptions for 519 yards and 2 touchdowns, averaged over 10 yards on punt returns, and punted four times. Most of that was during the 1981 season. He started one game at quarterback, a loss, for the Saints in 1982. At quarterback, Merkens threw for 213 yards with 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. Only one of the eleven players to wear No. 19 for the Saints was drafted by the organization. Devery Henderson was a second-round choice in the 2004 NFL draft from the LSU Tigers. He would play nine years in New Orleans, with his 124 games by far the longest tenure of anyone to wear the No. 19 jersey. Henderson was part of a deep receiving corps with one of the most prolific offenses in NFL history. While best-known as a deep threat, he was also a trusted weapon for Drew Brees in key situations. Over his New Orleans career, Henderson had 245 receptions for 4,377 yards and 20 touchdowns. He is eighth in franchise history for career receiving yardage and retired with an impressive average of 17.9 yards per catch. Ted Ginn Jr. arrived to the Saints in 2017 as a free agent. Ginn's reputation of making explosive plays carried into his time with New Orleans. In three years with the Saints, he had 100 receptions for 1,417 yards and 8 scores with an average of 14.2 per catch. When kicker Wil Lutz missed the 2021 season with injury, Brett Maher was one of the four kickers used that year to unsuccessfully replace him. Chris Harris Jr. had a terrific career with the Denver Broncos, but still turned in a few solid performances in 10 games with the Saints during the final year of his career. Blake Grupe would beat out Lutz during a 2023 preseason competition. Grupe had some rocky moments in his first year, but was one of the more consistent kickers in the league during 2024. His range and accuracy will be an important part of the Saints keeping in games this season.

Todd. Freddie. Dave, Liam and Josh. Baker Mayfield has played for a plethora of OCs
Todd. Freddie. Dave, Liam and Josh. Baker Mayfield has played for a plethora of OCs

USA Today

time4 hours ago

  • USA Today

Todd. Freddie. Dave, Liam and Josh. Baker Mayfield has played for a plethora of OCs

TAMPA — Baker Mayfield was headed to the weight room after a recent training camp practice, so, squeezed for time, he suggested that we walk and talk. This got us started with a great deal of efficiency. We walked. Briskly. He talked. Mayfield, the vibrant Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback, is flowing off a career year that included him throwing for 4,500 yards and 41 touchdowns. His reward? Heading into his eighth NFL season, he has another new coordinator, as Josh Grizzard was promoted from pass game coordinator after Liam Coen bolted to the Jacksonville Jaguars. How many coordinators have you had since you've been in the league? Just outside the weight room, Mayfield stopped in his tracks. Time to calculate. 'Let's see. Year 1, I had two,' Mayfield, drafted No. 1 overall by the Cleveland Browns in 2018, told USA TODAY Sports, referring to Todd Haley and Freddie Kitchens. 'Second year, Todd Monken. That's three. Alex Van Pelt, four. (Kevin) Stefanski called the plays. I count that as four and five. 'Then Carolina, Ben McAdoo. Then (Sean) McVay out in L.A. I don't even know what number I'm at right now.' Uh, that would be seven. He finishes with the Bucs chapter of his journey. 'Dave Canales. Liam Coen. And Josh Grizzard,' Mayfield concludes. That's 10, which is proof that Mayfield, 30, who earned his two career Pro Bowl selections the past two seasons, has mastered the art of adaptation. Now he's joined at the hip with a man who has never called plays before on the NFL level. Well, again. Canales and Coen hadn't called NFL plays before, then after one year on the job with Mayfield as triggerman, they landed head coaching gigs. What's different with Grizzard? 'Well, he was here,' Mayfield said. Grizzard joined the Bucs last year after seven years with the Miami Dolphins, where his most substantial role was coaching wide receivers. 'He was in every quarterback meeting we had last year. It's not like a complete overhaul, where I'm having to get to know him as a person and learn how he thinks about it. Since he was in our meetings, I know exactly what he likes to do. Yeah, and it's just the play-calling stuff with him. We're doing a lot of periods to simulate game-like situations for him, so we can be on the same page. It's been good so far.' Bucs coach Todd Bowles, who has hired an offensive coordinator every year since succeeding Bruce Arians in 2022, chuckled when asked about Mayfield's new play-caller. 'He's in the same boat with me,' Bowles said. 'I don't think it's as big a challenge this year. Of course, we haven't played a game yet, but because Josh was in the system last year, there's chemistry there. So, this is the closest he's had to almost being the same as possible. Obviously, the play-calling's going to be different. And Josh has added some tweaks. But the comfort level is there.' MORE: Key word for Cam Ward? Patience. The Titans still have a long way to go The Bucs, who won their fourth consecutive NFC South crown in 2024, were the only team in the NFL last season to rank in the Top 5 in both passing (3rd) and rushing (4th). They were fourth in scoring (29.5 points per game), led the league in third-down conversion rate (50.9%) and became the first team in NFL history to complete at least 70% of its passes while averaging at least 5 yards per carry. And Mayfield set a franchise record with a 106.8 passer rating. That's a rather high bar for the unit to top, but it may take that for the Bucs to break through as a surefire Super Bowl contender. Grizzard has said that he wants to be more explosive in the deep passing game. Mayfield is undoubtedly game, assuming the protection (that will likely miss all-pro left tackle Tristan Wirfs for the start of the season after arthroscopic knee surgery) holds up. And given Grizzard's background with Miami, it will be interesting to see whether there's more emphasis on pre-snap motion that could enable free releases for star receiver Mike Evans and emerging rookie Emeka Egbuka. Still, whatever the schemes, no matter the play-caller, it's a quarterback's league. None of it works without Mayfield, who found the ideal landing spot after his career seemed to be in jeopardy a few years ago. Listen to Evans, the 12th year vet, rave about the energy and skill set. 'He's super-positive,' Evans told USA TODAY Sports. 'He holds people accountable in a positive way. He's like way better at throwing the football than I think people think. He's way better running the football than people think. He's the ultimate quarterback, especially in this day and age. The mobile quarterbacks are the best quarterbacks. And he has that.' As much as Mayfield's journey speaks to resilience and well, the ability to adapt, it is also a marker for good timing on multiple levels. While Mayfield needed a new team in 2023, the Bucs needed a quarterback — and at a team-friendly price — after Tom Brady retired (for a second time) in February of that year. 'We were lucky that Baker was available,' Bucs general manager Jason Licht told USA TODAY Sports. 'Everything was perfect timing. We didn't have any money to spend and he wanted to land somewhere to revive his career. And he saw, just like Tom did, that we had some receivers and we had an offensive line. And the system fit. So. We were fortunate.' The fit included the Bucs telling Mayfield to merely be himself. His reputation as a high-strung lightning rod didn't matter to Licht and Bowles. They wanted authenticity — to go with performance. Still, knowing what he knows now, imagine what he'd tell the 'rookie Baker Mayfield' that might have made a difference. 'Control what you can control,' Mayfield said. 'The thing is, I don't like going back and saying I would do this or that. It's gotten me to this point. You grow and learn from your experiences. I'm not one to say I would change anything. 'Off-the-field stuff, there's certain ways I would handle relationships and what not, just from where my perspective is in life now. I wouldn't have put as much time into certain things. But control what you can. And the thing you can always hang your hat on is how you treat people, and the impression you leave on them. You can always try to make everybody better around you. That's probably what I'd tell myself.' Experience, fortified by adversity, has seemingly been a great teacher for Mayfield. The edge remains. Yet Licht maintains he's seen Mayfield (who signed a three-year, $100 million extension in 2024) more dialed in than he's ever been during his Bucs tenure, which goes a long way in making those around him better. MORE: Michael Penix Jr. shows fight, literally, in Falcons-Titans practice scrap 'He never really had to try to win over the team to become a leader,' Licht said. 'It kind of became natural, just the way he competes. He really wants to win a Super Bowl, obviously, but I just personally have seen — not that he needed to mature — that he also really wants to prove to the detractors that they screwed up by letting him go. 'Cocky is not the word,' Licht added. 'But it kind of is.' Which made me wonder, as our chat neared the end. The Browns had such high hopes for Mayfield when they drafted him out of Oklahoma, then dumped him after four years to hop on the Deshaun Watson train. Paid any attention to the latest Browns quarterback drama? 'No,' Mayfield replied, emphatically. He seemed to carefully measure his words before walking into the weight room. 'That's not my problem,' he said. He had a parting message, though, for the long-suffering Browns fans. 'I love Cleveland, the town, man,' Mayfield said. 'It gets a bad rap.' No, with the prospects inviting enough for another big season with the Bucs, there's no reason for Mayfield to dwell on the past. Not here. Not now. Contact Jarrett Bell at jbell@ or follow on social media: On X: @JarrettBell On Bluesky:

2025 Winston-Salem Open: Borges [42nd] vs. Majchrzak [78th] Prediction, Odds and Match Preview
2025 Winston-Salem Open: Borges [42nd] vs. Majchrzak [78th] Prediction, Odds and Match Preview

USA Today

time7 hours ago

  • USA Today

2025 Winston-Salem Open: Borges [42nd] vs. Majchrzak [78th] Prediction, Odds and Match Preview

On Monday, Nuno Borges (No. 42 in the world) meets Kamil Majchrzak (No. 78) in the Round of 32 at the Winston-Salem Open. Borges has -140 odds to earn a spot in the Round of 16 over Majchrzak (+110). Tennis odds courtesy of BetMGM Sportsbook. Odds updated Monday at 6:35 PM ET. For a full list of sports betting odds, access USA TODAY Sports Betting Scores Odds Hub. Nuno Borges vs. Kamil Majchrzak matchup info Watch the Tennis Channel and more sports on Fubo! Borges vs. Majchrzak Prediction Based on the implied probility from the moneyline, Borges has a 58.3% to win. Borges vs. Majchrzak Betting Odds Borges vs. Majchrzak matchup performance & stats

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store