NEED TO KNOW

• Jameis Winston poked fun at himself on TikTok with a reference to his infamous seafood stealing incident during his college days
• The former Florida State Seminole used the “In your 20s…” trend on TikTok to teach a lesson based on his own past mistake
• Winston’s seafood scandal has been the butt of memes in the years that followed, with the athlete poking fun at himself too

Jameis Winston has some advice for his younger self.

The New York Giants quarterback, 31, joined in on a viral TikTok trend where people share an incident from their youth and what to do in that situation. And Winston left fans cackling with his version, which poked fun at his infamous crab leg theft from his time at Florida State University in 2014.

“In your 20s, you will walk by the seafood section at Publix… it’s very important you keep walking,” he wrote over the TikTok, which showed him with his back to the camera as he waited for the subway in New York City.

Winston simply captioned it, “Trust me.”

Winston was referring to the highly publicized scandal where he was accused of stealing approximately $33 worth of seafood from a Publix in Tallahassee, Tenn. Surveillance footage caught him leaving the store with crab legs and crawfish without paying for them.

The former Heisman Trophy winner was then issued a civil citation for shoplifting.

“I went to the supermarket with the intent to purchase dinner but made a terrible mistake for which I’m taking full responsibility. In a moment of youthful ignorance, I walked out of the store without paying for one of my items,” he said in a statement at the time.

Ahead of being selected first overall by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the 2015 NFL Draft, Winston reflected on what went down during the supermarket seafood scandal, and claimed that he was given the crab legs for free.

“How I’m supposed to handle, like, if I just got them for free? I just say, ‘I just messed up?’ ” he questioned during an appearance on ESPN’s Draft Academy.

Winston said that he had previously gotten free food from an individual working at that store.

“Well, a week before, it was my buddy’s birthday and we had got a cake,” he shared. “And we met a dude that worked inside Publix and he said, ‘Hey, anytime you come in here, I got you.’ So that day we just walked out and he hooked us up with that.’ “

“And when I came in to get crab legs, I did the same thing and he just gave them to me and I walked out,” he continued, adding, “And someone from inside the store had told the security that I didn’t pay for them. And that’s how the whole thing started.”

Florida State suspended Winston — who was playing both baseball and football at the time — from the baseball team after the incident. He completed community service and was reinstated to the team five days after receiving the citation.

Meanwhile, the Florida State released a statement that the university wasn’t aware of the details Winston shared in the interview.

“The details disclosed by Winston in that interview were not previously known to the University,” the school said in a statement in April 2015, reported ESPN. “As is the case with all matters of this type, we will work in partnership with the NCAA to determine whether a violation occurred.”

Publix also said that after their own investigation, they found “no information that would corroborate the story that there was any arrangement for Jameis or any other FSU athlete to get any product for free.”

“There was no information that would lead us to believe that any of our associates were involved in giving away product,” Maria Brous, Publix’s director of media and community relations, told USA Today Sports at the time.

In the years that followed, online memes and jokes have centered around Winston and the crab leg incident. The quarterback, too, has even poked fun at himself over what went down during his college days over a decade ago.

Winston now plays for the New York Giants and is currently the backup quarterback to Jaxson Dart, a standout rookie who has led the team to their sole two victories this season, including a major upset against the Super Bowl-defending Philadelphia Eagles.

The Giants next play the Washington Commanders on Sunday, Dec. 14. They are 2-11 this season.

Read the original article on People