Jameis Winston baptized with girlfriend Breion Allen at spiritual NFL retreat, in Colorado

Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston and his girlfriend Breion Allen were baptized while at a spiritual retreat for NFL players in Colorado on Thursday, it emerged today.

The pair, who have been dating since September 2013 can be seen in an amateur video taking the plunge — literally — while watched by dozens of spectators at The Pro Atheletes Outreach (PAO) camp, TMZ revealed.

The 22-year-old, who signed a four-year contract with the Buccaneers worth $25,351,277, was accused of rape in a civil suit back in 2014, but faced no criminal prosecution.

The video shows Winston, bare-chested, and Allen, wearing a T-shirt, standing in a huge pool alongside two men. At the edges of the pool are at least 25 spectators.

Winston and Allen are lowered into the water to the cheers and applause of the viewing crowds.

The video was posted on Allen’s Instagram account this afternoon, with the message ‘Last night I accepted Christ into my life for the first time. So thankful for this #PAO experience for helping me grow closer in my faith and to be around people trying to do the same.’

It’s a positive and uplifting moment in the life of a young man who has been heading steadily upwards in the world of football for the past few years.

Winston won the Heisman Trophy for outstanding college football player in 2013 and was first pick of the NFL draft last year.

But his rise has been haunted by allegations that he sexually assaulted fellow Florida State University student Erica Kinsman in December of 2012.

State Attorney Willie Meggs announced in December 2013, one year after Kinsman went to police, that she would not go ahead with a prosecution, citing ‘major issues’ with the testimony.

‘As prosecutors, we only bring charges for cases where the evidence will result in a likely conviction at trial,’ she told the media in a news conference. ‘In this case, the evidence does not show that.’

Police say that the gap between the opening of the case and Meggs’s announcement was due to Kinsman and her lawyer ‘breaking off contact’ with Tennessee Police Department during that time, and that the case was only reopened in November 2013 due to interest by journalists.

But in April 2014, Kinsman filed a civil suit accusing Winston of ‘sexual battery, assault, false imprisonment, and intentional infliction of emotional distress arising out of forcible rape.’

Winston counter-sued the following month for ‘defamation and tortious interference,’ although the latter accusation was dismissed by a judge, cases were set to be heard in May 2017, but the case was settled in January of this year when the University of Tennessee paid out $950,000.

It was initially announced that Kinsman would only take $250,000 of that figure, with the rest going to her lawyers, but her lawyer later told the New York Times that the claim was ‘false,’ though he declined to say what the true split would be.

Kinsman also waived her right to anonymity to appear in the CNN documentary The Hunting Ground, about sexual assaults on college campuses. Winston attempted to block broadcasting of the documentary by threatening to sue the channel, but it aired the film anyway in November last year.

In a statement, the film’s makers called the settlement of Kinsman’s suit ‘a win for survivors everywhere’.

Winston has been accused of other transgressions before, though none as serious. In 2013, he allegedly entered a Burger King near Florida State University’s campus with three other men and began to fill up ketchup cups with soda.

The manager called police on a non-emergency hotline, and audio obtained by TMZ has her complaining about him ‘causing a big scene out front’ and ‘fighting with me and refusing to leave.’

She also says that when she told Winston he was committing a crime, he said he ‘didn’t care.’ She later decided not to press charges.

And in May 2014 video emerged of Winston stealing a $32.72 order of crab legs and craw fish from a Florida supermarket.

He admitted the theft and was given as $30 fine and 20 hours of comminuty service.

The Pro Athletes Outreach is attended by hundreds of NFL players each year, and this year’s event was no exception, with free agent Antonio Cromartie, Cleveland’s Brian Hartline and retired player Kurt Warner running a seminar there, TMZ reported.

The event, which has been running for 45 years, sees pro athlete couples praying together, attending workshops and listening to religious and motivational speakers.

As well as NFL players, the retreat also attracts basketball and baseball players, TMZ says.

Source: The DailyMail