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Some aren't happy with Skipper's Smokehouse's free crab legs offer

 
Published April 27, 2015

TAMPA — Social media commenters are attacking Skipper's Smokehouse for the seafood restaurant's plan to give Jameis Winston unlimited free crab legs if he's selected by the Tampa Bay Buccaneer's in Thursday's NFL draft.

The former Florida State University quarterback was cited last year for stealing crab legs from a Tallahassee Publix, though he said last week it was a misunderstanding and he was "hooked up" with crab legs for free.

Celebrity news website TMZ recently contacted Skipper's to see if it was doing any crab legs-Winston tie-in, and the North Tampa restaurant, co-owned by FSU alumnus Tom White, agreed to participate.

Some aren't pleased.

"If someone stole crab legs from your establishment they would be prosecuted," wrote Kimberly Hendryx on Facebook. "I am in shock that this establishment would reward a criminal with "free" anything, especially after signing a multi-million dollar contract."

"I guess I won't be eating at Skipper's any more," wrote Sandy Amick, who garnered 13 likes.

"Funny how much you can get away with if you can throw a ball," wrote John McCook.

The announcement resulted in more than 40 comments on Facebook. Skipper's defended the decision, responding to many of the posts.

"Our position is that we feel Jameis' capabilities as a quarterback on the field are suitable to the Tampa Bay Buccaneer organization," a post from the Skipper's Smokehouse account read. "We are aware that there have been some off the field incidents and allegations against him that the Skipper's Smokehouse ownership, staff & management do not condone but we do think with the support of the Tampa Bay community and folks like Derrick Brooks, Jameis can grow into a good asset for our team."

Marketing director Cricket Larson said the owners didn't expect the deal to result in this much negative feedback.

"Some of the comments have taken it to a level that's sort of unfathomable to me," Larson said. "Everybody knows we are all about having fun, we're all about supporting our community, and we are die-hard sports fans. There was no ill-intent behind what we were doing."

The restaurant will offer a "Famous Jameis Crab Leg Hook-Up" on Thursday as a thank-you to customers: a $10 snow crab dinner. The restaurant will donate all profits from the dinners to a veterans charity, Larson said.

The deal would also apply to Marcus Mariota of Oregon if the Bucs pick him over Winston, Larson said. Either way, the restaurant has no intention of backing off its offer, despite any negative feedback,

"It was sort of all in fun and all in jest, but yes we'll stand behind it," Larson said. "If he comes in, we'll give him some crab legs."

Contact Caitlin Johnston at cjohnston@tampabay.com or (813) 226-3401. Follow @cljohnst.