• Australia's largest state hits record-high COVID-19 cases despite weeks of strict lockdown. 'It's a tinderbox ready to explode,' one official said.
• eToro says crypto made up 73% of trading commissions in the last quarter, as retail customers dived in
• A flight attendant says she was too exhausted to report a passenger who shoved her when a flight was overbooked: report
• US jobless claims climb for first time in 5 weeks, to 353,000

THE NFL HAS launched an investigation into a woman’s allegation that Jameis Winston groped an Uber driver in 2016, according to Talal Ansari of BuzzFeed.

The allegation came from an Uber driver who picked up Winston in downtown Scottsdale, Arizona, at approximately 2am March 2016, BuzzFeed reported.

According to the driver, Winston was in the passenger seat and “grabbed [her] crotch” when they stopped at a restaurant drive-thru to pick up some food.

From Ansari:

“The men placed Winston in the front passenger seat; Kate said he was the only passenger. ‘I started driving, and right away, Jameis behaved poorly’ by shouting, in part, homophobic slurs at pedestrians, said Kate, who did not want to be identified for fear of negative attention and potential backlash from football fans. He then asked to stop for food.

“Waiting in line at the drive-thru of Los Betos Mexican Food, ‘he reached over and he just grabbed my crotch,’ Kate said, alleging that Winston held his hand there for three to five seconds and removed it only after she looked up in shock and said, ‘What’s up with that?’

“‘I wasn’t just creeped out,’ said Kate, who had been driving with Uber for more than two years at that point. (She no longer drives for the service.) ‘I was frozen.’ She described Winston as ‘very physically imposing.’

According to the report, the driver filed a complaint with Uber. The company barred Winston from the service and encouraged her to contact the police, the report said. According to Ansari, “she didn’t go to the police for the same reasons she didn’t want to be named in [the] article.”

BuzzFeed viewed a letter sent from the NFL to the driver, saying they had opened an investigation into Winston.

Winston released a statement on Friday denying the allegation.

“A news organisation has published a story about me regarding an alleged incident involving a female Uber driver from approximately two years ago,” Winston said. “The story falsely accuses me of making inappropriate contact with this driver.”

The Florida State University product seemingly went on to suggest that he was in the car, but was not seated next to the driver.

“I believe the driver was confused as to the number of passengers in the car and who was sitting next to her,” Winston said. “The accusation is false, and given the nature of the allegation and increased awareness and consideration of these types of matters, I am addressing this false report immediately. At the time of the alleged incident, I denied the allegations to Uber, yet they still decided to suspend my account.”

He also said he did not want to “engage in a battle with the driver,” and that he regrets if his “demeanour or presence made her uncomfortable in any way.”

The42 has just published its first book, Behind The Lines, a collection of some of the year’s best sports stories. Pick up your copy in Eason’s, or order it here today (€10):