Johnny Manziel NFL Draft Update: Aggies QB Hires Agent with Relation to LeBron James; Will Enter Draft
Last year's Heisman trophy winning quarterback Johnny Manziel has confirmed earlier reports that he is headed to the NFL.
"After long discussions with my family, friends, teammates, and coaches, I have decided to make myself available for the 2014 NFL draft," Manziel said. "The decision was such a tough one for me because of how much I wanted to go back and be with all those guys that I love playing with, and to work with Coach [Kevin] Sumlin and Coach [Jake Spavital] Spav and be part of a program that's continuing to grow. But I felt like this is what's best for me now.
The NFL's Gil Brandt first reported the now confirmed rumor in a tweet.
"To be clear, Manziel has officially submitted declaration papers to #NFL for inclusing in 2014 draft, part of record 80 underclassmen."
ESPN followed up that report with more detailed information regarding the rumors.
"Multiple sources tell ESPN's Darren Rovell that Manziel has chosen Select Sports Group out of Houston to be his contract agency and LRMR, the firm run by LeBron James' business partner Maverick Carter, to do his marketing. It is unclear whether he has signed a deal with either firm. Calls placed to SSG and Carter were not immediately returned."
This was expected of Manziel so it's not like Gil Brandt shocked the world with his tweet. But ESPN's tweet is surprising because it reveals Manziel signed with Select Sports Group despite overtures from hip-hop mogul Jay-Z. Manziel showed up at a VIP suite rented out by Jay-Z and his Roc Nation Sports Agency just last week and was given a very expensive bottle of champagne. Johnny Football appreciated the bubbles, but it wasn't enough. Who says Ohio can't win?
Why is Manziel such a coveted baller? Among college football fans, Manziel may be best known for his ball handling skills and pin-point accuracy. He also helped his team, the Texas A&M Aggies, make a seamless jump to the SEC in 2012 after they left the Big 12 conference.
Like it or not, Johnny's mad skills aren't the only thing that garner attention. His off-the-field antics attract the likes of TMZ and Perez Hilton. Mostly Johnny just pulls harmless pranks like showing up to a University of Texas, Austin frat party while he was quarterbacking the Longhorn's arch rival the Texas A&M Aggies. He got kicked out of course; no one got stabbed, shot, punched or raped. All was good in the world, except that Johnny Football was caught on camera getting escorted out of the party and the whole event blew up on social media.
His only serious infraction was signing autographs for, presumably, thousands of crisp green dollar bills. Again this wasn't illegal (if he even got paid, which he very likely did), but it goes against NCAA student athlete bylaws. The corrupt and hypocritical NCAA couldn't prove for certain the Johnny was a bad boy, but they suspended him for the first half of a football game against Rice. No offense to Rice, but their team can't be taken seriously on a major college football team's schedule. A&M rolled, Manziel passed for over 300 yards and the real kicker is that he would have sat out a half anyway, in order not to run up the score.
Manziel is a redshirt Sophomore, meaning that in traditional scholarly terms he is a junior in college. Declaring for the draft is the next logical step in his career. He's already proven himself to be among the most electrifying college football players in modern history. And despite his small stature (for a QB at least) of 6'1" he is strongly built at 210 pounds. His durability will be questioned, but not as overly scrutinized as NFL GM's have done in the past, thanks to the play of QB Russell Wilson.
Is this a good move for Johnny Football? Will he succeed in the NFL or wash out like fellow Heisman winner and SEC QB Tim Tebow? Let us know in the comments below.
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