Johnny Drama

Each day on the drive to and from work I often find myself indulged in ESPN radio (mike & mike, the Herd, the Blitz) listening to the endless gossip of what goes on in the sports world. Unfortunately we still have half a baseball season to talk about, but the one thing that really keeps coming full circle is Mr. Johnathan Football himself, Johnny Manziel. According to ESPN reporters, the guy is a regular in Vegas where he spends his off-season getting hammered drunk by the pool and raging with Drake and Bieber in the club at night. All the speculation is that this kid is ruining his career before it even started. I would argue that being is Cleveland is what is going to kill his career or that fact that he plays on a mediocre team with a receiver who is addicted to pot, which I'm not sure is even considered medically possible. To be perfectly honest, I couldn't give a shit about this guy, the fact he went to A&M is nauseating in the first place (and I'm not even a UT fan), but it's like people want this guy to fail so bad just to say that he couldn't cut it, and I ask why? Have you seen this guy on a field? Regardless of how I feel about him, there is no doubt he was the most electrifying player in college football for the past 2 years. I can't grasp why viewers wouldn't want to see that happen in the NFL. Is it fun watching Peyton Manning audible on the line for 35 seconds only so he can hit his tight end on a five yard dump pass? Or watching the Texans go three-and-out on every offensive drive because they haven't quite figured out that run, run, pass, punt isn't quite working. I mean honestly, the only two guys in the NFL who were truly exciting to watch them on each down was pre-dog fighting Michael Vick and Barry Sanders. They did things differently, they ran around; it was like watching street football. No plays, just pure athleticism and a natural gift to play the game, even it was different.

Quick side note, I am not saying I think Manziel is going to be the next Sanders or Vick, but he certainly has the capability to achieve that sort of excitement.

The next thing people keep talking about is what most people are talking about; his extracurricular activities. One thing I find funny is that people like Manziel and Gronkowski get ripped for partying, but guys like Antonio Cromartie, Willis Mcgahee, and Ray Lewis who have roughly 25 kids among the 3 with about 18 women, rarely every get reported! but a guy hits the club one night and is crucified for his antics. There are allegations the dude is snorting coke in the bathroom, smoking, and drinking. It's the fucking off-season! and even if he is supposed to be studying the Cleveland Browns shitty playbook (I hear they just took the plays from the Backyard Football Games, Pablo was a legend!) let's ask guys like Dion Sanders, Michael Irvin, and Lawrence Taylor how that went for them, oh? all 3 in the Hall of Fame? Ya don't say, hmmm, what did those three do in their spare time, oh that's right Lawrence Taylor snorted blow instead of drinking water on the sideline, and Prime Time and Irving were just 2 of almost the entire degenerate Dallas Cowboys team that dominated in the 90's. Guys did drugs all the time, gambled, paid for hookers, and anything else you could imagine that would now be considered "unprofessional". Jimmy Johnson was probably right next to them...okay that's a lie, but the truth is they got the job done when it mattered. At the time of these reports came out, Manziel was 3 months away from taking his first pre-season snap. My biggest thing is leave the guy alone. If you think he looks like a jackass then that's your thing, but how in the world can you predict someone's future career based on what they're doing three months before they even play. You can predict his failures on his size, team, mental capability, arm strength, but drinking in Las Vegas 3 months before he has to be doing anything will have zero outcome of his performances. I just think that for a guy that is supposed to start off as a backup people sure do expect a lot from him.