I’m going to report a reversal of stance here: I’m glad the Rams did not take Johnny Football.
When he fell to the Sheep at 13, I really wanted my team to snatch him up. I still feel that with Bridgewater and Manziel both falling to the Rams that it’s reprehensible that the Rams did not draft one of them. I won’t lie though, I’m looking forward to the new Fearsome Foursome era.
Back to Johnny F. Football. I don’t care about flipping off the Redskins sideline and I think his reaction afterwards is actually a good sign of his “maturity.” I don’t really care about all the trips to Vegas and rolled dollar bills.
But other people care. A lot. The NFL media sharks are circling around Johnny Football and are tasting blood in the water. They want him to crack. Why they want this, with Manziel obviously being a cash cow in the waiting, is beyond me. I guess his young arrogance disrespects the game. He’s short, at 6 feet, and a running quarterback, which is something league traditionalists don’t like. I also think the league hates Heisman Trophy winners.
The NFL has a history of great partiers at the quarterback position. Joe Namath was a notorious womanizer. Phil Villapiano once said of Ken Stabler that the snake was so drunk the night before a game that they had him propped up against a Jukebox. Stabler had one of his best games after that.
But those guys did not have social media documenting all of their off the field movements, although some of these social media wounds with Manziel have been self inflicted. They probably didn’t have the money as young players to fly to Las Vegas for a weekend either.
I still think Johnny Football’s ceiling is Brett Favre. They strike me as similar players, old school gunslinger types. But, I wonder if Favre’s career would have been different if he had gotten a chance to throw the ball in high school (thanks dad), gone to a big school and then become a star in college. In that clip, Favre talks about how Southern Miss recruited him as a defensive back. That’s eerily similar to Manziel’s experience with UT.
Also, I could totally see Johnny Football trick or treating at his coach’s house.
Remember what old Favre was like that last year with the Vikings, just a crippling interception waiting to happen? Well, young Favre was like that to except he would usually sprinkle in a mind boggling interception or two throughout the game. Would young Favre have been given a chance today? I’m not sure.
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