Johnny Manziel: Heisman Hero or Barroom Brawler?

It's an amazing story, Jonathan Paul Manziel freshman quarterback from Texas A&M, Heisman Trophy winning freshman quarterback from Texas A&M. Johnny Manziel, also known as, "Johnny Football" has lived a charmed life. A talented athlete and the first freshman ever to receive the coveted best college football player of the year award, the "Heisman Trophy." 

Manziel was a gifted athlete playing golf, baseball, basketball and his best sport, football.  He received practically every high school award honor there is, playing wide receiver and quarterback at Tivy high school in Kerrville, Texas. After leaving Kerrville for College Station and Texas A&M and a college career at quarterback, he tore up the field as a red-shirt freshman.  Everything seemed to be coming up roses and Johnny Football impressed everyone in NCAA D1, but most of all… Johnny Football was busy impressing Johnny Football.

Fame had come on a fast track for Manziel, and he was quickly anointed the (BMOC) big man on campus at College Station from almost day one.  Unfortunately, he never had the grounding influences from his parents at home to teach him the virtues of;  humility, temperance, prudence and Self-discipline; the things you would hope for a 19-year-old young man on a meteoric rise to fame... Instead, the teenage Manziel had already fallen in love with the mirror.

The way that things are changing in college and pro sports, it was just a matter of time before high school football would be a driving force in the lives of young men far before they ever played before 80,000 screaming fans in some of the most storied college stadiums in the nation.  In Texas, high school football is huge.  It's virtually a religious category for Texas families and every parent hopes that their son or sons take to football like a fish takes to water.  For many young high school footballers, their parents require football first and schoolwork second.  It's that crazy and the media creates a sentiment of football romance thought for every young boy to dream of going to state and becoming the town hero, or maybe even the state hero, like Johnny Football.  Manziel could practically write every chapter of his Texas football story and it read like a bestseller, and it didn't stop in high school.

Now, Johnny Football has not only become nationwide, it's become a Manziel legally owned family trademark. In a year or so, Johnny Football will be a moneymaking, national brand for the 21-year-old.  In College Station, Texas, Johnny Football; hats, banners, pennants, T-shirts, ice chests, and bobble heads are filling the shelves at the A&M college bookstore almost as high as Manziel's ego stands. Stadium seat pads and Johnny Football Fatheads will be filling the shopping carts of fans all across the Lone Star State. 

It's almost certain that Manziel will be an early first round selection in the 2014 football draft.  He's already declared himself eligible and unless he tanks his sophomore season, which is unlikely, he will be the number one talk of New York City when Radio City Music Hall opens up to the hype and pomp of the NFL Draft.

 On June 29, 2012, before he was chosen as Texas A&M's starting quarterback and before his first college game, Manziel was arrested and charged with three misdemeanors—disorderly conduct, failure to identify, and possession of a fictitious driver's license. These charges stemmed from a late-night fight in College Station, Texas.  In July 2013, he pled guilty for failure to identify, and the other two charges were dismissed. As part of the plea agreement, he must pay a $2,000 fine and $232 in court costs, which shouldn't be difficult for Mr. and Mrs. Johnny Football (his parents) to pay this one off for him, they have money and he will likely learn nothing from that hiccup in his young life. The agreement also stated that he had to spend two days in jail, but he won't have to since he had already served time following his arrest in June 2012.  In Texas, high school football is such a phenomenon, that if Manziel did spend time any significant time in jail, he would probably do it playing Xbox football with; the judge, bailiff, his lawyer and the mayor.

Manziel told police he was with a friend who directed a racial slur at a man on the street.  The man then approached the two of them trying to aggressively get at the friend. Manziel claimed that he tried to place himself between the two men, saying his friend didn't mean it and he was going to take him home.  The man continued pushing against Manziel to reach the other, and eventually Manziel pushed back.  At this point, the man swung at Manziel who then began fighting back and the melee was on.  Shortly afterward, the campus bicycle patrol officers arrived.  Manziel, who at the time was 19 years old, presented a fake Louisiana driver’s license to police officers, showing himself to be 21 years old.  Manziel was taken into custody and reportedly spent the night in a jail cell... "Reportedly".

It's only been one season of Johnny Manziel as "the Texas A&M Aggies starting quarterback" and already there have been reports of discord and discontent, by Johnny and Texas A&M campus police. One of the more popular topics among the college football fans around College Station involved a tweet left on Manziel's official Twitter account. On June 15, 2013, Manziel tweeted; "Bullshit like tonight is the reason why I can't wait to leave College Station... Whenever it may be," that sparked much controversy. Manziel deleted the tweet later that night, and responded later saying he loved College Station, but asked people to "walk in his shoes.” Sources say the original tweet was influenced by a parking ticket he received on campus.

Shortly after the tweet of discontent, Manziel was arrested.

July 15, This off-season, Johnny Manziel was personally invited, by; Archie, Peyton and Eli Manning, to be a special counselor at the "Manning Passing Academy" in Thibodaux, Louisiana. This is considered the premier quarterback camp in the country for teenage students, grades 8 to 12, and a thrilling once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for young quarterback hopefuls to meet all three of the great NFL Manning's that played pro football, (not to mention) some of the other great quarterbacks of pro-and college football.  Just being invited to take part in this prestigious event is a great honor.  Johnny Manziel rewarded the Manning family by missing practice assignments and other meetings and camp activities without prior notice.  After missing more than one commitment, Peyton and Eli met with Manziel and it was announced that the Heisman Trophy winner would leave the Manning Academy early. Manziel stated at the SEC media day that it was, "a mutual decision" for him to leave the camp.  After the incident was announced to the media, it was reported that the 20-year-old Manziel was seen drinking at a local bar and was believed to be inebriated.  The second day after Manziel missed another commitment, his father reported that, "his son was "Dehydrated" and would not be able to honor his commitment.  Speculation by fans and media reporters was that a long night of drinking at the bar left him dehydrated and not fit to be involved with Academy activities.  Johnny Manziel was interviewed after the Manning Camp, at the annual SEC media day by ESPN. He was asked a series of questions related to his failures at the Manning Camp, and here are a few, Q&A's

Q: "Why did you miss practice assignments and meetings at the Manning Quarterback Academy?"

A: "I overslept because I forgot to charge my cell phone alarm." 

Q: "Were you drinking alcohol?"

A: “I don't want to get into specific questions about that."

Q: “How can you explain some of the problems you've created in your football career?"

A: “I’m 20 years old, I'm young and I've made mistakes, and I'll make more mistakes and hopefully learn from them and hope to not make the same mistakes over and over and over."

 

Johnny Football Parties, with a Bottle of Jose' Cuervo In His Grep..  21?  Nope!

Manziel is just 20 years old, and he will be 21 this coming December.  He is still under-age for drinking alcohol, yet has been seen partying and drinking by many witnesses throughout his time at Texas A&M, and high school. 

 Some will condemn Manziel for his reckless living habits, while others will forgive him because what he is doing is not atypical of college students throughout the country.  What really bothers me, is his lack of appreciation for the numerous opportunities and God-given athletic ability he has been blessed with. He has an inherent lack of respect for those who have helped him become the fantastic athlete that he is today. He seems to have no inherent appreciation or gratitude for the countless opportunities that he has been given by; his coaches and teammates at Tivy high school, and now we are witnessing a clear disrespect to the administration and the fans of Texas A&M,the school and people who made it possible for him to take the field and ultimately receive the honor of being a "Heisman Trophy" quarterback.

So, are we being too hard on 20-year-old Johnny Manziel?  Is he simply young, immature and inexperienced?  Should we give him a "free pass" because of his youth and inexperience?  Should we look back at his childhood and examine the iniquities and mistakes of his parents or perhaps their parents? Well…Maybe.  Perhaps those questions can be answered by the people who helped Russell Wilson climb to the height of his lofty goals and dreams.  You wouldn't have to go very far to find the source of Wilson's manners and respect.  He would deflect all of the credit to his mother, and his [father], whom he unfortunately lost to a diabetes related illness. The point is, he has such a grounded and balanced understanding of his faith and the opportunities he's been given. How about Peyton and Eli Manning, who both grew up in the huge shadow of, judgment and expectation, from the great Archie Manning?  Maybe it's just best that we expect more from our young men and women of 18, 19 and 20 years old.  Most of these gifted young athletes spend somewhere between 6560 to 7300 days with their guardian or guardians, and during this time isn't it expected that we learn something about life during that period of time, whether it's through positive reinforcement or full on abuse or neglect.  There has to be a point during that time in life where we learn the difference between right and wrong.  Not everyone has the ideal nuclear family, with mom and dad, little brother and little sister, with a nice big house, a picket fence and a dog named Lucky.  However, I have a strong belief that somewhere along that road of growing into an adult, we learn empirically the difference between the things that are honorable and inherently righteous and good and those things that are dishonorable and inherently evil or bad.  It is a federal law that ALL children, kindergarten through 12th grade, receive a minimum of a public school education.  Even if a child's parent isn't present and involved, there is a certain learning curve that we absorb as we go through an educational maturation period in that 12 year period. Obviously, there are going to be those children that have a seemingly natural progression of making wrong choices and through punishment, learn, and those that learn by a reward system of some kind that lead them in the direction of redeeming achievement.  Many colleges of thought that will say it's all about the nurturing process of life that determines the way a child develops in society, while others will say it's the natural development of a human determines their path, and then there are those that believe that both nurture and nature determine the development of a human being in society.  I find that I most closely match the philosophy that we are molded and developed by both sources: One: what we learn from those that, (sometimes by default), become our "nucleus" or center of influence, and at the same time that nurturing influence is constantly molded by a natural code of temperament given to us by God, our Creator.

That being said, what makes Johnny Manziel, Ryan Leaf, Todd Marinovich, and JaMarcus Russell so destined for failure, while; Peyton Manning, Eli Manning, Drew Brees, Andrew Luck, RGIII and Russell Wilson seemingly so destined for greatness?

Choices.  It all seems to be factored by the choices we make and the moments we choose to take the "right path.”  I believe that most young males above the age of 12, know the difference between what is "right behavior” and what is "wrong behavior" when the choice is there to be made.

 

Lamar Divins                                               Ahmad Brooks

On July 3, 2013 San Francisco 49ers defensive end, Ahmad Brooks, made the choice to get into his car and drive when he was extremely inebriated, even though fellow teammate and friend, Lamar Divens, pleaded with him several times to stay at his home and sleep off the alcohol, instead of driving home drunk and endangering his life and the lives of everyone unfortunate enough to encounter him on the streets.  Instead of heeding his friend and teammate's wise advice, Brooks instead beat Divens over the head with a beer bottle and several more times with his fists, before threatening to brandish his pistol and shoot him.  Divens suffered just three stitches in his head from the beer bottle beating, but worse than the cut in his head, he was unable to keep Brooks from driving his car while impaired, risking lives instead of making the right choice.   So, what made Lamar Divens decide to try and stop his friend from driving drunk and what made Ahmad Brooks choose to drink and drive and assault a friend who is trying to save his life?

                                                                                                  Josh Brent

 Dallas Cowboys defensive end, Josh Brent, took the life of his friend and former Illinois teammate, Jerry Brown, when he chose to drive drunk.  Heavily inebriated, Brent swerved off the shoulder of an Irving, Texas Highway and flipped the car several times killing Jerry Brown, but surviving the wreck, itself.  He spoke with contrition and remorse of the tragic death of his friend, and was subsequently released from the hospital and also given bail so he could return to his home.  Josh Brent was ordered by a court justice not to drink alcohol or take drugs, as part of his parole sentencing.  However, even the death of a close friend, Jerry Brown, didn't stop him from drinking alcohol and smoking marijuana.  These are choices and Brent is of average enough intelligence that I believe he knows the difference between right and wrong and what's legal and what is not legal.  In addition, the judge ruled, the survivor Brent, coherent and lucid enough to understand the ruling that he handed down and that he was aware of the details of his bail hearing.  So why does Josh Brent continue to make bad choices?

As a complete dichotomy, I offer you one Russell Carrington Wilson of the Seattle Seahawks.  Wilson had the same number of years that most other athletes live before becoming a freshman in high school.  He was 15 years old when he had an epiphany; I don't know where he was at the time, perhaps in third period geometry (I don't know), but somewhere along the way he decided that if he became a professional athlete in baseball or football (he was drafted in both pro-baseball and football) that he would foster a camp for inner-city school aged kids, in five cities in the nation and he would fund these five camps himself and he would do it for the  entire duration of his professional career.  He wasn't thinking about partying, spending money, doing commercials or benefiting from the awesome opportunities that professional athletes are often given.  He wasn't thinking about the beautiful women that seem to surround rich and successful professional athletes and he wasn't thinking about breaking records and becoming famous.  He was 15 years old, not even through high school, and he was thinking of ways to give back to the people and the communities that make professional sports possible for young men and women with aspirations of working hard and achieving goals and experiencing dreams.  This is the way that Russell Wilson thinks and it's the way that he thought years ago, before he had achieved his goals and before his dreams were made real.  Wilson knew that there is a way to achieve goals and reach dreams and it required hard work, determination, a plan and a vision of his long-term destination.  He felt destined to succeed because he understood the order of life and the things that one must do to, not only succeed, but to make the successful journey feel right, and good.  Wilson continues to live by a code of honor and that honor requires that he make the right choices, regardless of whether it requires hard work and sacrifice.  He is highly organized and ritualistic in his preparation and like all great achievers; he remembers that to see your dreams from a distance, you must stand on the shoulders of giants.  Lastly, once you reach your life dreams, you must never forget the Giants that allowed you to stand on their shoulders to see your potential.  What makes Russell Wilson choose right from wrong?

I don't know what Johnny Manziel is going to do after college.  He may become a great professional quarterback, or he might fizzle out the way that Ryan leaf and JaMarcus Russell did, and after having so much potential for greatness.  I do know that he won't become great on his own and he will never become great if he continues to disgrace himself, his family, and those who have helped him by offering the opportunity to make the journey to his true potential.  Right now he is fueled primarily by his ego and his God-given ability to play the game of football.  In pro-football, ego and natural athleticism won't get you through training camp, let alone, a successful career.  He's got a lot of growing up to do, and he's got a lot of people around him that want to see him succeed.  Unfortunately, because of his behavior, early on in his life, there are also a large theater of football fans that would love nothing more than to watch his goals and dreams crumble and disappear while he sits alone with his ego and his God-given talent.  Now, he's got all the opportunity in the world to prove his critics wrong and show his supporters that he is more than just a spoiled boy who was given too much, too early and begin to believe the press clippings he read of his high school days in Kerrville, Texas and the raves of the masses who cheered for him as he played the season of his life and received the greatest individual achievement in college football, the Heisman Trophy, and at just 19 years old.

 

Marinovich                              Russell                                   Leaf

I believe that "Johnny Manziel" a.k.a. "Johnny Football" needs to reach down deep within himself and somehow resurrect "Jonathan Paul Manziel" the son of Michelle and Paul, and realize that his parents and all the experiences of his young life, did indeed, teach him the difference between right and wrong and start requiring more of himself, and to choose the path of selflessness and humility.  This would be a great start and I believe it will take him a long way toward the kind of person that he really wants to be.  Someone that his parents, coaches, friends and fans would be proud to see successful and happy.  Right now, it's about 50-50, the people who wish him success or bitter failure.  Johnny Manziel is the author of the life he has lived up to this minute, and he will be the author of the days in his life that remain.  I think his life story is destined to be a New York times best seller, but he has to choose whether it's a young man's plight to greatness, or a story of great opportunity that slipped through his fingers and left him; broke, discouraged and alone.  The great part is that there are success and failure manuals written all the time.  Will he read the autobiography of Ryan Leaf "How I Destroyed A Career and Wasted Countless Opportunities."  Or the autobiography of Vince Lombardi "When Pride Still Mattered."

After the events of 2012 and 2013, Johnny Manziel is likely going to be portrayed as a "Bad Apple" by some of the media and by a lot of the fans of college football.  After reading this post, you'll probably see a specific theme that paints him as a trouble-making, self-centered, college diva who was born with a silver spoon in his mouth and hasn't earned the reputation that goes along with being awarded a coveted Heisman Trophy.  As Manziel has reminded us numerous times in the last five days, he IS just 20 years old and has a lot to learn about the world and the life of a high profile SEC college quarterback.  He's made some bad decisions, but because he's accomplished so much at his young age, it's brought along a comprehensive brand of scrutiny that most young men his age don't have to deal with.  I don't dislike Johnny Manziel, but I could do without "Johnny Football" and I think it's a little early to start calling him the next Johnny Unitas before he's even strapped up his helmet well walked on an NFL football field.  There have been many college prima donnas that left their university and entered the realm of the NFL, with the best football players in the world.  However, pro-football is a place that separates the pretenders from the contenders and it doesn't take long to find the difference between one and the other.  I think Manziel would do much better to remember "who he is" right now and show respect to the men who have proved themselves at the elite level of football.  Coming into the Manning Quarterback Academy football camp like an anointed football God was probably not the best way to introduce yourself to a family that has been referred to as "Football Royalty".  Archie, Peyton and Eli, have already proven that they are worthy of professional football elite.  Each of them have been selected NFL All-Pro at the quarterback position and all have been selected to the NFL Pro bowl team multiple years. What's probably even more notable is that all of the Manning family quarterbacks earned the respect they've been given by what they did and what they continue to do on the football field.  They are universally respected by everyone who plays or has played the game, and all three of the football greats are destined to be enshrined in the prestigious NFL Hall of Fame, first ballot inductees.  Showing up in Louisiana to the Manning's Quarterback Camp, after a last-minute stop in Toronto to party and hang out with rapper Drake and NBA great, Lebron James, isn't the way you probably want to show respect to the people who might someday be responsible for helping you secure a lucrative NFL contract someday.

Lastly, it's probably practical to say that most, including myself, really couldn't care less whether Johnny Manziel or Johnny Football, does well or falls flat on his face.  Frankly, with the behavior that he has had since high school and seems to be resonating through his young college career, I would say most would like to see him be "made an example of" as in a little karma.  What goes around comes around, as a lot of people say, and if that is true… What does that say for Manziel?  I don't know, I'm not particularly one of those to believe that justice always prevails, but sometimes it does and when it does, for some reason people feel validated for their feelings about players like Manziel.  After all, he hasn't really done anything to endear himself to the "every day college football fan" and aside from his amazing performances on the field, he really doesn't inspire people with the kind of behavior that causes people to lift him up.  Manziel, himself, has complained that he is on a pedestal and doesn't like it, and feels that he has a particularly difficult life because of his fame and notoriety as a college football quarterback, and even more notable because of his groundbreaking accomplishment, winning a Heisman Trophy as a freshman in college.  I believe that those who willfully step into the spotlight of notoriety, know exactly what they're doing and not too long ago were likely dreaming of being in that very position someday.  What boy, who loves sports, hasn't dreamed of one day, having tons of fans falling all over themselves to get his autograph or ask to have their picture taken with him?  When you walk into the bright spotlight the way that Manziel has, partying with NBA stars, popular rappers and actors etc., you are willfully inviting everything that goes along with that spotlight of fame.  Fame and notoriety always bring with it, the burden of losing anonymity and the freedom to do things as easily as common people in society.  The trade-off is hopefully a lot of opportunity, money and attention from other people who were also of similar stature in the public eye. In more simple terms; nobody's going to feel sorry for a a young man who has the world on a string, given a free education and on the verge of cashing in on a professional career that is likely to eclipse tens of millions of dollars.  Now is the time for Johnny Football to determine whether or not he can cope with the complication of being one of the more recognizable faces in America, or not.  So far, he's not impressing me and from everything I've read, watched or heard, I'm certainly not alone.  On the other hand, I do wish him well and I hope that he's able to reach deep down inside of his real self and begins to understand how fortunate he is and begins to appreciate that this is a process and he still has the choice whether or not he wants to take the baton of fame and run with it, or decline the complications of his positions and begins to live life like an ordinary 20-year-old young man.  He has all the cards, now he just has to decide whether or not to place them on the table and cash in on a wonderful opportunity for free education and the chance to compete in the NFL as one of the few men talented enough to be paid well to play a sport that can be a lot of fun.  Not many people in this world have a job that they would do for free.