Jameis Winston and Tom Brady were never teammates. But during an appearance on ESPN’s “The Pat McAfee Show,” the former Hueytown High School star shared something he learned from Brady’s performance for a team he handed off to the three-time NFL MVP.

“When I was a starter, a firm starter, when I was young, the face of the franchise of the Buccaneers, my sole focus was to get people to like me,” Winston said. “You know what I’m saying? I wanted to be a people-pleaser. I wanted to make everybody happy.

“But when I got to the New Orleans Saints, after Tom Brady led the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, same team that I was on, to the Super Bowl, I had to understand, like, ‘Man, everybody don’t got to like you. You just got to win games.’”

The No. 1 selection in the 2015 NFL Draft, Winston spent his first five seasons as Tampa Bay’s quarterback. But after the 2019 campaign, the Bucs let Winston leave as a free agent. Tampa Bay signed Tom Brady to replace him and won Super Bowl LV – Brady’s seventh NFL championship – in his first season with the team.

In the five seasons since he left Tampa Bay, Winston has started 17 regular-season games. Twice after winning the New Orleans Saints’ starting position, Winston went out of the lineup with injuries.

After joining the Cleveland Browns in free agency last offseason, Winston started seven games when Deshaun Watson went down for the season in the seventh game. But even though Winston won the AFC Offensive Player of the Week Award for his performance in his first start for the Browns, eight interceptions in a three-game losing streak got Winston benched for the final three games of the season.

Unless Winston re-signs with Cleveland by March 12, he will become an unrestricted free agent this offseason. Winston hopes to be a starter again in 2025, but he knows he can be a good backup, too.

“I know I’m one of the best 32 quarterbacks in this world,” Winston said. “And no one can take that away from me. But I do whatever’s required, right? And what I want for myself, I want for everyone, so when someone else is in that role, like late in the season when (coach) Kevin Stefanski turned it over to Dorian Thompson-Robinson, man, I’m his biggest fan. …

“I just want to win. That’s all I want. It’s not the stardom. It’s not the fame. Obviously, I want to be the team’s quarterback because that’s what I think is required for me because I want to feel that. You know what I’m saying? But I just want to win, so any way I can help, any way I can serve, anything I can do to play more consistently to win, I’m going to do that.”

During Super Bowl Week, Winston worked for FOX Sports, and he was asked if he was lining up his post-playing career.

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“I don’t have a contingency plan, brother,” Winston said. “My focus is on being the best quarterback that I still can be. That’s what I’m still preparing for. I’m just allowing myself to venture off and accept other roles to learn and see what I like, what you have to do. …

“My mindset right now is on my preparation, on eliminating all negative plays and focusing on how can I play consistent, winning football.”

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X at @AMarkG1.