Former Michigan State football recruit Donovan Winter opens up about arrest

Former Michigan State football commit Donovan Winter opened up recently about his offseason arrest and apologized to the Spartans.

It’s been a rough season for Michigan State football and people seem to forget that former commit Donovan Winter was part of the problem. The three-star defensive end recruit from Florida was arrested and had his scholarship pulled right before National Signing Day.

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There were some that were in shock when he didn’t show up to sign his letter of intent to play for the Spartans, but Michigan State’s coaching staff knew he wouldn’t be headed to East Lansing in 2017.

Weeks before his arrest, the coaching staff saw his grades slip and heard of him getting into trouble so they pulled his scholarship. The rest was history as Winter launched into a downward spiral and eventually ended up in jail for armed burglary and theft of a firearm.

According to Chris Hays of the Orlando Sentinel, Winter had been out of control for months, and it all started when he committed to Michigan State. Social media had overtaken his life and he’d gotten involved with the wrong crowd.

His father, Blaise Winter, recounted what had happened leading up to his arrest.

"“We felt something was happening and, sometimes as a parent, you just see your kid slide and you just say to yourself, ‘Oh my God, I hope he turns around.’ The wise people, like the people at Bishop Moore, like the coaches who were recruiting him, they saw it. They felt it was coming,” Blaise Winter said. “He was starting to become selfish. He was starting to become lost in the social media scene and we were all worried about it. … On Jan. 31st, obviously it broke, the whole dam, the whole river, the hurricane, the monsoon, the earthquake … it happened.”"

Donovan Winter, now heading to a Fort Scott Community College in Kansas, admits that he got in with the wrong crowd and that ruined his opportunity.

"“All the publicity on Twitter … like, ‘Wow, this kid’s going to Michigan State.’ ‘This kid’s going to a big-time college.’ Well, these kids … that just do drugs every single day … they want to hang out with a kid who is going somewhere in life and you gotta be careful. … They’re going to bring you down as low as them,” Donovan Winter said. “I thought they were friends. I didn’t really know. … I didn’t even listen to my parents. It was the stupidest thing. … It hurts to just talk about it.”His parents warned him to stay focused on school and were wary of a new girlfriend.Donovan Winter recalled them saying, “‘This is a huge opportunity for you and don’t mess it up.’ It’s upsetting because I should have [taken] their advice. … I should have taken the Bishop Moore football team’s advice. They tried to help me, too. … I was so brainwashed and these people I called my friends, honestly, they’re nothing like friends. They just brought me down.”"

It’s tough for a kid to admit when he was wrong, but Winter has taken full responsibility in the fact that he messed up and it ruined his life, for the time being. He had an opportunity to play college football for his dream school up in East Lansing and let it slip through his fingers. He got caught up in the extracurriculars that often tempt star athletes.

The former commit felt sympathetic toward Michigan State fans, according to Hays. He opened up and apologized for what he put everyone through and even stated that he will always be a Spartan at heart.

"“I’m gonna say I’m sorry for what I did to him. I’m sorry for what I did to the Spartans and sorry for what I did to all the people out there,” Winter said. “Honestly, it’s the worst decision of my life. If I could change it, I would. I know I’m crying right now, and I’m sorry … but I love the whole Spartan nation and I’m so sorry this happened.“Even if I’m not with you, I’ll still be a Spartan at heart, even if I’m at a different school.”"

Mark Dantonio likely won’t give him a second chance once he does become a JUCO transfer, but it’s nice to see that he’s taking responsibility for his actions and is growing up.

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Sometimes lessons have to be learned the hard way and his parents leaving him in jail instead of bailing him out was one that really opened his eyes.