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Tag: heisman

  • Derrick Nnadi Commits To Florida State On National Signing Day

    Florida State was at the top of their game throughout much of the 2013 season, and eventually made it to the BCS National Championship, proceeding to defeat Auburn. One of the biggest commitments that they received today was from Derrick Nnadi, a defensive tackle.

    The Seminoles will be bringing in several more talented players to join the roster, and at the end of national signing day, Florida State has the third ranked 2014 recruiting class behind Alabama and LSU, respectively. With Jameis Winston returning, the winner of the Heisman award, they are likely to be a force to be reckoned with yet again in 2014.

    Derrick Nnadi is a 4-star prospect from Virginia Beach, Virginia. As all of the big colleges continue to beef up their teams with big time high school stars, Florida State has added another big shot to their roster. Nnadi also had offers from Virginia Tech, Virginia, Ohio State, and Virginia.

    It has been rumored for some time that Nnadi would choose Florida State, although Virginia Tech made a strong push for him as well with them wanting to keep him in his home state. He was the No.5 overall prospect in the state of Virginia, and No. 80 overall nationally.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFW-CRVXhIE

    Jimbo Fisher, who led the Florida State Seminoles to an undefeated record that was followed by a national championship win, is excited about a new class of young players that will be arriving in 2014. This afternoon, Fisher said “We hit needs all the way across the board. Very happy with this class.”

    He also said that their biggest need was at the wide receiver position, and the Seminoles landed a couple of elite wide receivers, although they missed out on Scout.com’s top receiver, Malachi Dupre.

    Florida State will be the new home for a few wide receivers including five-star Ermon Lane of Homestead, Fla., four-star Travis Rudolph of West Palm Beach, Fla., and three-star Ja’Von Harrison of Lakeland, Florida, who have also signed with Florida State.

    Derrick Nnadi is one of five defensive linemen to sign with FSU, a group that also includes Demarcus Christmas of Bradenton, Fla., and Arthur Williams of Fayetteville, N.C. He is 6’1 and 305 lbs, and being the strong player on the field that he is, he has been described as bulky, physical, strong and quick.

    Image via Youtube

  • Johnny Manziel Humbly Passes Heisman Trophy Torch To Jameis Winston, Gives Advice To Young Star

    Johnny Manziel won the Heisman Trophy last year, and while he made it as one of the top 6 finalists, Jameis Winston won this year’s award in one of the biggest landslides in the history of the award.

    Winston had a commanding lead, and as the quarterback of the No.1 team in the nation, he was predicted by everyone to win the award.

    While he has been criticized for some of his off-the-field antics throughout his career, while at the same time being viewed as a celebrity in some ways.

    In this year’s presentation of the Heisman Trophy, Johnny Manziel had to sit and watch as Jameis Winston accepted the much-deserved award.

    It has been a couple of historic years in Heisman history, as Manziel became the first freshman to win the award, and now Winston has become the second. Jameis Winston is the quarterback of the top-ranked Florida State Seminoles

    As someone who knows what it is like to win the award, and how it can have an effect on a player, Johnny Football had some words of advice for the young quarterback, and other young stars as they begin to enter the spotlight.

    Speaking toward the future generation of college football stars, he said “Live it up. Enjoy it. Continue to be yourself, and don’t let anybody change you. You’re going to have to adapt to how life is going to be after this.”

    In addition to Johnny Manziel and Jameis Winston, Andre Williams, Jordan Lynch, Tre Mason, and AJ McCarron were all among the top 6 players competing for the award.

    The man who has become known as simply “Johnny Football” by fans all over the country did not have the success with the Texas A&M Aggies that he would have liked, and as a result they are stuck playing against Duke in the Chick-fil-A Bowl in Atlanta, Georgia on December 31. A list of the full college bowl schedule can be seen here.

    Like Johnny Manziel and a few others that have come before him, Jameis Winston also faced some troubles that were not football related when he was accused of raping another student in an incident that occurred in December of 2012. The investigation was brought to the attention of the media recently, although he was not charged with the crime.

    As a third-year junior, Johnny Manziel can declare for the draft after this season, and it would be a huge surprise if he doesn’t. He will be one of the most scrutinized players going into the draft, and whether his wild style of play is able to translate into the professional league will also be put into question.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngCOQb_5COw

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Robert Griffin III is Done for the Season

    Washington Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III will not take another snap under center this season. Starting in place of the former number one draft pick will be Kirk Cousins. It hasn’t been a good year for the 2011 Heisman Winner, or the Redskins, who now sit in last place in a very mediocre NFC East.

    Jeff Darlington of the NFL Network was reportedly told by an unnamed Redskins player that the team is just publicly saying Griffin is sitting due to injury concerns. However, rumors are running rampant that the second year QB is being benched because of his poor on field performance and that head coach Mike Shanahan is using spin to protect Griffin.

    RG3’s stellar rookie season in which he threw 20 touchdowns and only five interceptions did not end well when the quarterback re-injured his surgically repaired right knee. Mike Shanahan fell under fire for allowing Griffin to stay in the game against the Seattle Seahawks in the playoffs last season when it was evident to anyone watching that Griffin’s knee was seriously injured. Many critics condemned Shanahan for jeopardizing the career of a franchise-type quarter for what would amount in the grand scheme of things as just a single game.

    Many pundits and NFL fans don’t think that Shanahan will be back to coach the Redskins next season.

    Backlash against Coach Shanahan is at an all-time high. Redskin fans are especially fed up after a promising 2013 season.

    It is clear that Griffin is not the same player as he was last season. His statistics in every major offensive category have dipped dramatically. What made him such a special QB was his ability to move around the pocket and run wild on defenses. We haven’t seen that same kind of mobility after Griffin went under the knife last winter to repair two ligaments in his troublesome right knee. Typically the recovery time for ACL surgery is about one year, Griffin had about half that time to get ready for the 2013 season.

    The Redskins will travel to Atlanta next Sunday. The Falcons are another team that has been a monumental disappointment after making the playoffs last year. Both teams are just 3-10 and are in last place in their respective divisions.

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  • Johnny Manziel Leads Texas A&M In Rout Of Vanderbilt

    Johnny Manziel, like most weeks this season, has led the Texas A&M Aggies to another impressive victory. This week, they faced off against Vanderbilt, in the first match-up for the two schools. The man known to many as simply “Johnny Football” for his excellent skills, led the Aggies to a 56-24 victory on Saturday.

    Texas A&M defeated #1 ranked Alabama last season, and almost did it again this season, in a tough battle that went down to the final minutes. Manziel is one of the top players in college football, and already won the Hesiman Trophy after last season. He is only a sophomore, but will likely be drafted after another successful season with the team.

    There was also a small amount of doubt that Manziel would even play in their game yesterday, due to a recent injury that he had suffered. The coach had expressed doubts about his playing ability, but it seemed as if Johnny had always intended to play. He said that he was always planning to play and said, “It would take a lot to keep me off the field and away from these guys. They count on me and they expect me to be there.”

    Not only is Manziel an outstanding player on the field, but he has become well-known for his actions off the field as well. He was featured on the jumbotron during their rout of Vanderbilt in a segment that had him stating that he would most like to party with the now infamous actor Charlie Sheen and New England Patriots tight end, Rob Gronkowski.

    He also added Tiger Woods to the mix, in a video that was later uploaded to Youtube. At only 20-years-old, Manziel was making headlines during the off-season, due to the way in which he spent his off hours, enjoying the night life with celebs such as Lebron James and Drake.

    After a surprising loss to Auburn last week, Johnny Manziel was able to bounce back and throw for 305 yards and four touchdowns in less than three quarters. They jumped to an explosive 28-0 lead, before allowing Vanderbilt to come back, but their comeback was simply much too late, and the Aggies continued to add on more points.

    Johnny Manziel became the first freshman to win the Heisman Trophy, and after a great start to the 2013 season, he is looking to earn that honor once again.

    Image via Youtube

  • Johnny Manziel Shines Against Alabama, Despite Loss

    Johnny Manziel has become quite the elite player in college football and is one of the best according to some people. Yesterday, the ultimate showdown took place between SEC offenses when the Texas A&M Aggies took on the Alabama Crimson Tide. Manziel, Texas A&M’s quarterback is able to get it done in the air and on the ground, and in yesterday’s game, he threw for 464 yards and ran for 98 yards. The Aggies ultimately lost the game in the end, but put up an incredible fight from start to finish. The final score was 49-42 in favor of Alabama.

    Alabama seemed to have no answer for Manziel throughout the game, and the only thing that they could do was retaliate with touchdowns of their own. The defense of both teams was almost not present, while both quarterbacks are also very elite players and like to rack up as many touchdowns as possible. This game was a rematch of the game that they played last year in which A&M pulled off the victory. In last year’s match A&M jumped ahead 20-0, and delivered Alabama their only loss of the season. This year was much of the same, although Alabama was able to hang on and win this one. They were finally safe from the unstoppable play of Manziel when Alabama’s quarterback AJ McCarron took a knee to end the game, leaving Manziel with nothing more to do, according to ABC News.

    The tough play of Johnny Manziel has even earned himself the nickname of Johnny Football. He has been known to get a bit too cocky at times too though, and received a penalty for excessive celebration earlier this season against Rice. He was also one of the leading candidates for the Heisman Trophy last year.

    Alabama soon found that the only solution to stopping Manziel was to keep him off the field and keep their offense on the field for as long as possible. They were executing the strategy of “best defense is a good offense” in this case, hoping to see the aggressive play of Manziel as little as possible. AJ McCarron was quoted saying that “With the type of offense A&M has, you have to eat up some clock and pound the ball.” This seemed to be the only thing that Alabama could do in order to stop him, and it eventually worked. McCarron passed for 334 yards in Alabama’s win.

    Manziel was virtually unstoppable for much of the game, setting records for passing yards and total offensive yards. He set the single-game school record for passing yards and put up the second-most total offensive yards in a game (562), second only to his own total (576) against Louisiana Tech last year, states ESPN.

    Image via Youtube