Who is Winston Justice?

By Rob LaBrie

Winston Justice is the best offensive tackle in the upcoming draft. He’s going to dominate in the NFL, much like he did in the combine and on the USC pro day. He’s bigger and faster than anyone else.  Justice is also the most athletic tackle in the draft and clearly has top ten talent.  He has a pretty face and he’s much better than D’Brickshaw Ferguson in pretty much every way you could imagine. He even has a cooler name than D’Brickshaw. All of this is true. If you don’t believe me, just ask him… he’ll tell you all about it.Whether or not Winston Justice will be able to dominate the NFL remains to be seen.  However, we know he had a decent career at USC protecting Matt Leinart’s blind side in 2005.  While Justice may lack the bulk right now to become totally dominant, he’s certainly not short on confidence.  Justice thinks he will be able to have a career that ranks among the top tackles to ever play the game.  Justice may have the talent to be a top ten pick as he has said, but teams will certainly not just look beyond his troubled past.  

Justice has some skeletons in his closet.  In 2003, he was arrested for solicitation of prostitution in California.  Justice pleaded no contest to the charges.  He went to USC and started 12 of 13 games in his freshman year.  Then in 2004, he pulled a toy gun on a fellow USC student.  He was suspended for two semesters and was forced to sit out his entire sophomore season and miss out on a National Championship.  He was also charged with 3 misdemeanors and was put on probation.  Justice was electronically monitored by a plastic bracelet which was worn around his ankle.

While he was monitored, he was only allowed to go from his mother’s house for training or to go to counseling at the USC campus.  Justice was constantly training, a way to get back at the world.  He became a true athlete in those days.  He developed a solid work ethic and a better character.  Winston Justice was a changed man.  He was no longer a bad boy.  He built up confidence, heightened his standards and improved his attitude.  

In his junior season at USC (2005), Justice really developed, starting all 13 games in the right offensive tackle spot, protecting star quarterback, Matt Leinart, from blitzing defenders.  He was instrumental in the team’s run to the Rose Bowl.  

Justice had an incredible combine and pro day and has seen his name shoot up everyone’s draft board.  While he certainly won’t be taken in front of D’Brickshaw Ferguson as he feels he should be, he has solidified himself as a mid-first rounder.  He will make an impact on whichever team he goes to providing that he doesn’t revert back to his old ways.  If he really is a changed man as he says, all he needs is to bulk up a bit to become the excellent offensive tackle he knows he can become.  Justice will be chosen in the middle of the first round on Saturday.  He will likely go 13th to Baltimore or 14th to Philadelphia.  

If he didn’t have so much baggage, maybe he would be in the top ten or even in the top 5 like Ferguson.  Unfortunately, life just doesn’t work that way.  People can forgive, but they can’t forget.  You can often get a second chance, but don’t expect your past to just disappear.  What happened happened and it can’t be changed.  All Justice can do is go out and prove that he is a good person and is not the criminal that he once was.

It’s always great to see a guy like this going from being at the rock bottom to being on the verge of completing his life goal.  However, this is not the end of the Winston Justice story, but rather just the beginning.  There are still plenty of question marks and rightfully so.  It will be interesting to see what kind of player Justice becomes.  He would make a great addition to an already potent Ravens defense.  He possesses a powerful upper body, coming from countless hours of boxing while under probation.  He is a disciplined pass blocker and has the speed to get down field as a run blocker.  The future is bright for Winston Justice… if he puts his troubled past behind him.