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Tony Dorsett has some advice for Jameis Winston.

Dorsett, who won the Heisman Trophy in 1976 when he was a senior running back at Pittsburgh and then of course went on to have a Hall of Fame career with the Dallas Cowboys, is in New York City for the Heisman festivities this weekend. He got to meet the Florida State quarterback’s family Friday night.

“I talked with his parents and they want me to sit down and talk with him over the course of the weekend, and I will,” Dorsett said. “I’ll talk to him about some of the do’s and don’t’s. That man has probably learned one of the most valuable lessons you can learn by now. And that’s to be very careful. You can’t trust anybody. You have to have your guard up. You don’t always want to be that way, but sometimes that’s the way you gotta be.”

Winston is the favorite to win the Heisman on Saturday night. He’s had a magical freshman season on the field, leading Florida State to the national championship. But of course he’s had to face sexual assault allegations off it.

Dorsett believes that what Winston has gone through this year won’t hurt his reputation in the future.

“This is a forgiving public that we live in,” he said. “Since his slate was wiped clean, I don’t see any problems with it, but this was a valuable learning experience for him. And it shouldn’t just be a learning experience for him, but for all athletes. They should understand they have to be careful with what you do, how you do it, and who you do it with.

“Everybody’s going to want to be around this guy, and the other five Heisman finalists, too. But you gotta learn how to say no, and you gotta understand that you have to say no and mean it.”
 

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Dorsett said that when he talks to the FSU quarterback one-on-one, he will explain that sometimes he’ll want to go out with his friends or teammates, but sometimes he should hold back and make smarter decisions.

“Let’s be real,” he said. “This man has a chance to make a lot of money whenever he decides he’s gonna go to the National Football League barring injury. But he’s also going to have to understand how to say no. When you get to this point and you’re a professional athlete, people come out of the cracks, out of the woodwork. All your friends, all your cousins, everybody wants something. You have to learn how to say no and mean it and not let it affect you.”

Dorsett was at the Florida State-Pittsburgh game earlier this year when the Seminoles beat his Panthers 41-13. It was the first game of the season, and Winston’s coming out party.

“I remember looking at some of my former college teammates and saying this kid has something special,” Dorsett said. “He has a lot of poise. And I remember saying if nothing happens to this kid, I wouldn’t be surprised if he were in the Heisman race.

“And low [sic] and behold he’s a finalist.”

Dorsett said he loves going to the Heisman ceremony and sometimes has flashbacks of his big night.

“I was afraid my dad was going to drop the trophy because he was just so proud and so happy,” Dorsett said with a chuckle. “I’m the fifth of five sons of his, and his baby boy had won this great trophy ,[sic]and my dad was just all over this trophy and I was like, ‘Dad, don’t drop it, don’t drop it!’”

Last month Dorsett announced that he has chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, which is a progressive degenerative brain disease found in some athletes with a history of repetitive brain trauma. He’s in the preliminary stages and believes he can beat the disease.

“Right now I’m just glad to know what the problem is,” he said. “We’re combatting [sic] it now that we know what it is and taking the proper procedures. Just like every other thing that I’ve taken head on, I know that I’m gonna win. I’m fighting it, and it’s frustrating, but I think in the long run I’ll come out on top.”