Jameis Winston's message to young girls: 'Sit down,' be 'silent'

NFL quarterback Jameis Winston visited a struggling Florida elementary school on Wednesday to offer a message of inspiration -- but only to the male students.

What was intended as a motivational speech for young third to fifth-grade students took a turn when the Tampa Bay Buccaneer told young ladies to "sit down" because women are "supposed to be silent."

Jameis Winston through the years

According to the Tampa Bay Times, Winston was trying to regain the attention of a few students when he instructed the strong young men to stand up, but told the young women to stay in their seats.

"All my young boys, stand up. The ladies, sit down," Winston said. "But all my boys, stand up. We strong, right? We strong! We strong, right? All my boys, tell me one time: I can do anything I put my mind to. Now a lot of boys aren't supposed to be soft-spoken. You know what I'm saying? One day y'all are going to have a very deep voice like this (in deep voice). One day, you'll have a very, very deep voice.

"But the ladies, they're supposed to be silent, polite, gentle. My men, my men (are) supposed to be strong. I want y'all to tell me what the third rule of life is: I can do anything I put my mind to. Scream it!"

One little girl in attendance turned around to a teacher and said "'I'm strong too," according to the Tampa Bay Times.

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Winston has since responded to criticisms of his comments, saying he made a "poor word choice."

"I was making an effort to interact with a young male in the audience who didn't seem to be paying attention, and I didn't want to single him out, so I asked all the boys to stand up," Winston said, reports Sports Illustrated. "During my talk, I used a poor word choice that may have overshadowed that positive message for some."

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