BESSEMER, Ala. – When the moment of validation came on Thursday night, Jameis Winston took a seat on the edge of a coffee table in a crowded living room, surrounded by his parents, his grandmother, his girlfriend and a couple dozen other family members and friends.

It was 7:06 local time, and Winston clutched his smartphone (fittingly, a red mobile device) to listen carefully to the man on the other end of the line, Tampa Bay Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht.

“What’s up, Mr. Licht?” Winston said amid the hushed room in the center of a family friend’s sprawling home.

A pause, then a response: “I’m doing pretty good.”

After a brief conversation, Winston hung up and made an announcement, a few minutes before NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell made it official in Chicago.

“I’m going to Tampa Bay!” he screamed.