Apr 22, 2015 10:25 AM EDT By Russell Westerholm, UniversityHerald Reporter

About a year after getting caught stealing crab legs from a Tallahassee Publix grocery store, Jameis Winston told the real story behind the incident.

Speaking with Michigan football coaches Jim Harbaugh and Jedd Fisch On ESPN's "Draft Academy" show airing Tuesday night, Winston said he was under the impression he was getting "hooked up."

Per CBS Sports, the segment was part of the show in which Harbaugh and Fisch were prepping Winston for the interview process that precedes the NFL Draft. When Harbaugh asked Winston sample questions about his disciplinary past in high school and college, the highly touted QB left the crab legs story out.

Fisch then prompted Winston to be sure to address the crab legs story primarily and to not leave it out. But Winston was not sure how to deliver the full truth of the situation.

"How I'm supposed to handle, like, if I just got them for free? I just say, 'I just messed up?'" Winston asked Harbaugh, who asked the QB to explain the incident.

"Well, a week before it was my buddy's birthday and we had got a cake and we met a dude that worked inside Publix and he said, 'Hey, anytime you come in here, I got you.' So that day we just walked out and he hooked us up with that," Winston said. "And when I came in to get crab legs, I did the same thing and he just gave them to me and I walked out. And someone from inside the store had told the security that I didn't pay for them. And that's how the whole thing started."

SEE: video of Winston walking into Publix and leaving with the crab legs without paying, via the Tallahassee Democrat.

Shortly after the incident, Marcellus Wiley, a former player in the NFL and the co-host of ESPN's "Sports Nation," tweeted that Winston was "falling on the sword" to cover up a certain understanding between Florida State's football program and the players.

A year later, following Winston's explanation, Wiley stood by his comment.

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