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It’s all about Johnny Manziel. I cannot wait for football season to start and take the spotlight off Johnny football. Here’s a breakdown of the media stalking his every move as they try to break down the Texas A&M QB.
December 8th -Manziel became the first freshman to win the Heisman Trophy.
December 20th– Manziel sat courtside during a Miami Heat and Dallas Mavericks game. Later on he lashed out on Twitter about those who questioned how he got the pimp seats.
January 4th– Manziel leads Texas A&M to a 41-13 win over Oklahoma in the 2013 Cotton Bowl Classic.
January 5th– Manziel posted a picture on Instagram of himself holding a wad of cash in the shape of a fan, with the tagline “casino ballin.” (Seriously, Johnny? You are not making a rap video. You could have made a duck face or chucked up the deuces to try and prove that you are gangster. But smiling with a fan full of dollar bills is lame.)
January 6th– Photos of Manziel holding what may or may not be a bottle of Dom Perignon Champagne at a 21 and up nightclub in Dallas shows up on the Internet.
February 19th– The San Antonio Express News reported that Manziel is only taking classes online at Texas A&M. Manziel told the Express News “I went one day… it was a small class of 20 or 25… and it kind of turned into more of a big deal than I thought”. (What college athlete doesn’t take online classes? This is not news.)
March 2nd– The Manziel family filed for the trademark for the phrase “Johnny Football”. Under NCAA rules, Manziel can keep any potential earnings from a lawsuit filed against Eric Vaughan, who sold T-shirts that said “Keep calm and Johnny Football,” starting in November, 2012. (I hope who ever started the phrase Johnny Football gets a cut of that lawsuit.)
March 25th– The San Antonio Express News reported that Manziel shoved a graduate assistant after he threw an interception during a practice on March 23. (Maybe he was in his way?)
June 7th– Manziel appeared in a music video for Granger Smith‘s song “Silverado Bench Seat” with his girlfriend, model Sarah Savage.
June 16th– After getting a parking ticket, Manziel sends out a Tweet that said, “Bull**** like tonight is a reason why I can’t wait to leave College Station … whenever it may be.” (If twitter had been around when I was still in college, I would have tweeted weekly about getting parking tickets! And even when I deserved them, I was still pissed. Who wouldn’t be?)
July 13th – Johnny Manziel leaves the Manning Passing Academy early and misses the quarterback challenge. Manziel denied being hungover at the Manning Passing Academy during SEC media days on July 17th. (We all would deny being hungover. But no one asked who served him at the after party. Until then, there’s no proof he had a reason to be hungover.)
July 27th- Manziel attended at least one frat party in Austin, Texas, according to Tweeter where beer was poured on him. He was told to leave the party. (The star QB shows up at an instate rival party wearing a Patriots Tebow jersey, he was asking to have beer “spilled” on him and not feel welcomed. Sounds a lot like a typical college frat party.)
Everything leading up to August has been blah, blah, blah. It’s not news. Now, if Johnny has a season that is less than a stellar year then maybe, maybe the media can use his timeline as ammo to break him down on the field. But, with the latest headline, his ability to prove himself on the field could be ruled ineligible by the NCAA.
August 4th– Reports surfaced that Manziel is being investigated by the NCAA to find out if he received payment for signing autographs on hundreds of pieces of memorabilia. If Manziel did accept money for signing memorabilia the NCAA could rule Manziel as ineligible for playing time.
Right now this is an investigation and Texas A&M will continue to practice with Johnny as the starter.
ESPN reported that two sources told “Outside the Lines” that Manziel agreed to sign memorabilia in exchange for a five-figure flat fee during his January trip to Miami for the BCS title game. Both sources said they witnessed the signing, although neither saw the actual exchange of money. If there’s no proof that Manziel was paid, then there is no case.
We get it. It’s a big deal to win the Heisman Trophy and to do it as a freshman puts him in an even bigger spotlight. His family is wealthy and he’s girlfriend is a model. Life isn’t so bad for Johnny until you turn on the news and report after report makes him out to be an entitled athlete who is on the verge of self-destruction.
He’s a kid in college. Until it’s proven that any NCAA rules were broken, can we stop trying to breakdown this kid off the field?
1 Comment.
GO VOLS!!!