It almost feels like you can't go a week without Johnny Manziel being in the news, who has went from college football golden boy to red headed step child in less than a year. It started with his twitter rant about an alleged parking incident, then skipping practices and meetings at the Manning Passing Academy, then he was kicked out of a frat party at the University of Texas. All those headlines were, let's be completely honest, rather comical. But none of those previous indiscretions had any real effect on Manziel and Texas A&M, outside of their good name being ran through the mud by many writers and media outlets. However, the most recent Manziel related story is slightly more serious.
It has been reported that Manziel allegedly accepted money from an autograph broker to sign autographs this past January. Which is a direct violation of NCAA rules, and despite how foolish many people think this NCAA 'violation' is, it is in fact an NCAA violation. And you have to think that Manziel must have known that accepting any money (and it has been reported he may have accepted a 5 figure payout for his signature) was against the rules and he could very well be punished for it. Which only further questions his maturity and to a lesser extent his character.
Some feel that Manziel's rise and fall are both solely on the media and the overblown coverage, both good and bad, of his every move. Which yes, is partially to blame, but that doesn't mean Johnny Football isn't at fault as well. It's not like he was some unknown walk on that worked his way into the lineup. Manziel was one of the highest rated prospects in the 2011 recruiting class, the hype was major before he even had graduated from high school. I mean, they don't go handing out nicknames like Johnny Football to anyone.
Some also say that his partying ways are typical of many college students. Which I do know for a fact as being true. But many of those students are not on scholarship to play football at a university. The average college student is not expected to represent a university or a football program. Which, whether we like it or not, is expected of each and every athlete that accepts a scholarship. If he wanted to just go to school and party and not be in the news for every little thing he should not have accepted the scholarship and just paid his own way through school.
Part of me is starting to think that Manziel actually enjoys being in the spotlight like this. He knows every thing he does will end up on ESPN and his ego feeds off it. Which really brings up the question, is Manziel worth the trouble anymore? Now, don't get me wrong, on the field Johnny Football is one of the most entertaining players in the country. His rise to national prominence sure was a sight to behold last season. However with the seemingly never ending off the field incidents one really has to wonder if his on the field excellence is worth sitting through the never ending off the field nonsense? Luckily, I am not one who needs to make the decision, but if these issues continue, and Manziel doesn't declare early for the NFL Draft (which according to NCAA and NFL rules, he would be eligible for the 2014 NFL Draft), head coach Kevin Sumlin has to start giving some consideration to suspending his starting quarterback, if not flat out kick him off the team. As extreme as that may sound, it may very well be the only way to show Manziel that his immaturity won't get him very far in the world outside of college football.
- Josh Gamez
@itsjoshgamez
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