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Tag: Johnny Manziel

  • Tre Mason, Auburn’s Speedy Running Back, Enters NFL Draft

    The 2014 NFL draft is getting even better. Fans of college football got a chance to see Tre Mason do what he does best as the running back for the Auburn Tigers, and he will soon be running for a new team.

    There is no telling who will go as the No.1 pick in the draft yet, but as of now teams have another option of Tre Mason. In addition, while college football fans all knew this was coming for a while, Johnny Manizel officially declared for the draft today too.

    Tre Mason recorded outstanding numbers to end the season, including the SEC championship game in which he ran for 304 yards and four touchdowns. He also rushed for 164 yards and a touchdown in their game against Alabama, in a huge game for Auburn.

    Mason was impressive throughout the season, and he broke Bo Jackson’s school record of 1,786 yards that was set during Jackson’s 1985 Heisman season, while the Tigers also finished the season as the first SEC team to lead the nation in rushing.

    He mentioned that breaking Jackson’s record was a goal of his coming into the season, and said “Breaking Bo Jackson’s record was a goal of mine from the time the season started, and I believe God blessed me with the opportunity to do that.”

    Through his surge at the end, and the impressive season that the Auburn Tigers had, Tre Mason earned himself a trip to the Heisman ceremony, and was among the top six finalists for the award.

    As if those numbers were not enough, in the biggest game of the year for any team, he put up some of his biggest numbers when he rushed for 195 yards and a touchdown. Unfortunately, the Tigers lost that game 34-31 due to a last-minute drive by Jameis Winston, who is also having his rape case brought back into the headlines yet again after his college football season has ended.

    Gus Malzahn, the coach of the Auburn Tigers, spoke highly of his player when saying “The [NFL] is getting one of the tougher individuals in all of college football. He can run between the tackles. He has great courage. He played his best games in the biggest games, and he’s a good receiver out of the backfield, also.”

    Tre Mason is only a junior, but has decided to declare for the draft early. He finished the season better than anyone else in college football, and will look to bring his momentum and confidence to the NFL in the fall of 2014. Which team should get him?

    Image via Youtube

  • Johnny Manziel Officially Declares for the NFL Draft

    Much to the disappointment of Texas A&M fans (and to the glee of future A&M opponents), Johnny Manziel has declared for the NFL Draft. While most people knew that Manziel’s going pro was inevitable, Johnny Football made things official on Wednesday. Manziel is only a redshirt sophomore, so he could have stuck around for two more seasons.

    Manziel wrote a personal letter to his fans about his decision, which was published on TexAgs.com. Even though most fans expected him to leave early, Manziel says the decision to leave Texas A&M was tough to make. Check out an excerpt of the letter below.

    After long discussions with my family, friends, teammates and coaches, I have decided to make myself available for the 2014 NFL draft. The decision was not an easy one, but we all felt this was the right time to make the next step toward a professional career. My experiences here and the support of this school, coach [Kevin] Sumlin, chancellor [John] Sharp, my teammates, my classmates and Aggie football fans everywhere will be something that I carry with me for the rest of my life. I’ll always be an Aggie.

    In his two years at quarterback, Manziel won the Heisman Trophy in his first season and was a runner-up for the Heisman Trophy in his second season. Interestingly enough, Manziel’s stats from this past season were better than the first. Check out Manziel’s stats Texas A&M put together at the end of the 2013 regular season below.

    Johnny Manziel played in his last college football game on December 31, 2013. Texas A&M played Duke in the Peach Bowl and won 52-48. Manziel had 382 passing yards for 4 touchdowns, plus rushed for 73 yards and one touchdown in his last game. This game was a fitting end for the dual-threat quarterback.

    According to ESPN, Manziel is one of the Top 20 prospects for the 2014 NFL Draft and the third best quarterback. Teddy Bridgewater from Louisville and Blake Bortles from UCF are both projected to be picked before Manziel.

    Even though Manziel found himself at the center of controversy at times, there is no doubt Aggie fans will long cherish the days that Johnny Football ruled the gridiron.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Speedy Noil, The Nation’s No. 1 WR Recruit, Signs With Texas A&M

    Speedy Noil has been labeled as the top wide receiver prospect going into the 2014 season of college football. Although Texas A&M may be losing some strong weapons in their offense, they are looking to even that out with a strong addition at the wide receiver position.

    Texas A&M came into the 2013 with high expectations, having the 2012 Heisman Trophy winner, and a successful 2012 season that saw them give the Alabama Crimson Tide their only loss.

    Although Johnny Manziel put up an incredible performance and almost beat Alabama this season, they were not able to get the job done, and with some key losses at the end of the season, they were bumped down to the Chick-Fil-A bowl.

    In the game, they fought a fierce battle with Duke, and came away with a win, 52-48.

    Speedy Noil had received interest from several top-notch schools for college football including LSU, Alabama, and Auburn, but Texas A&M was the team that made the offer, and he made the announcement that he would be an Aggie on Thursday.

    Earlier this year, SB Nation stated that Speedy Noil is a consensus four-star prospect in the 247Sports Composite rankings, although 247Sports has Noil as a five-star prospect. He’s the No. 55 player nationally in the former rankings, as well as the No. 5 wide receiver and No. 6 player in state of Louisiana.

    Speedy Noil is a wide receiver from Edna Karr high school in New Orleans, Louisiana. He has decided to make the switch to wide receiver upon entering the NCAA, however, he spent his high school career playing quarterback.

    In 2012, Devante “Speedy” Noil totaled 2,235 passing yards and 1,345 rushing yards as a quarterback, as he showed off his dual-threat ability. This may sound familiar to anyone who has followed the Texas A&M program in the past few years, with Johnny Manziel being one of the best players at the position who is able to pass and run.

    He is a smaller player at 5’10.5″, 176-pounds, but makes up for it with his speed and elusiveness. His overall ability and strengths as a player have placed him as the 11th-best overall prospect in 2014, and No.1 wide receiver, according to 247Sports’ composite rankings.

    Speedy Noil is set to be a strong addition to the Texas A&M offense. Unfortunately for fans of the Aggies, with Johnny Manziel and Mike Evans both being likely candidates to go high in the 2014 NFL draft, they will not be able to see the star players together.

    Image via Youtube

  • Texas A&M Football: Last Minute Rally to Beat Duke

    No. 20 Texas A&M rallied late in at the Chick-fil-A Bowl in Atlanta on Tuesday to beat Duke after trailing 38-17 at halftime.

    Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel finished his college career with a bang by throwing four touchdown passes, scoring a touchdown, running 73 yards and completing 30 of 38 passes for 382 yards.

    When asked if this was the best way to end his career, he said: “I don’t know. It’s an unreal feeling, I know that. The way these guys fought, it was unreal. I’m proud of them.”

    Toney Hurd Jr returned an interception 55 yards, giving them their first lead with 3:33 remaining and the game ended 52-48, making it the highest-scoring game in the bowl’s history.

    “I was in a zone I haven’t been in before,” Manziel said. “Ever. I just wanted this game.”

    Heading into the fourth quarter, No. 22 Duke (10-4) had a 41-31. With this loss, the Blue Devils are still looking for their first bowl win since beating Arkansas 7-6 in the 1961 Cotton Bowl.

    Hurd stepped in front of receiver Johnell Barnes for the interception, the first turnover for either team. Texas A&M linebacker Nate Askew ended Duke’s next possession with another interception.

    Duke quarterback Anthony Boone passed for 427 yards and three touchdowns, but the two interceptions certainly played into the loss.

    “It hurt,” Boone said. “It was a very unfortunate play on my part.”

    Manziel, a third-year sophomore won the Heisman Trophy as a freshman last season and is likely he will be a first-round pick if he decides to enter the NFL draft.

    “I can’t even talk about anything other than this game,” Manziel said. “This was unreal. … I haven’t made (the decision) yet. I’m in the moment right now.”

    Image via Wikimedia

  • Texas A&M Football: Johnny Manziel Prevails In His Last Game As An Aggie

    The Texas A&M football team may have looked as if they were going to lose early in the game last night, but perhaps that was just a tease for all of the fans.

    Last night’s game was a game of two halves, and while Texas A&M was not able to put up the offense that was expected in the first half, they completely turned the game around in the second half, dominating on the offensive end, and shutting down Duke defensively.

    Johnny Manziel has been in the spotlight throughout the past two years, earning himself a trip to the Heisman ceremony both years.

    Despite his successful season, he did not win this year, but he was among the top six finalists.

    The Heisman candidate of the Texas A&M Aggies certainly showed up in the second half, and gave the team a total of 52 points by the end. They edged Duke in the end with a score of 52-48 in a close, and high scoring game.

    In what is likely to be Johnny Manziel’s last game of college football, he showed up with an impressive performance and threw four touchdown passes, completed 30 of 38 passes for 382 yards and ran for 73 yards and a touchdown.

    As he knew that he may never play another college game, and with an incredible career at Texas A&M, this was clearly an important game for him. Speaking about the game, Johnny Manziel said “I was in a zone I haven’t been in before. Ever. I just wanted this game.”

    While they were forced to come back in the game, it is certainly not the first time that Johnny Football has done it. The Aggies were down 38-17, but with the help of Johnny Manziel, the teams combined to make the 2013 Chick-fil-A Bowl the highest-scoring game that the bowl has ever had

    Texas A&M advanced to 9-4 on the season with their bowl win, and prevented Duke from winning a bowl again. Duke has not won a bowl game since beating Arkansas 7-6 in the 1961 Cotton Bowl.

    While some people may judge Johnny Manziel’s character and say that he is too cocky as a player, he had positive things to say about Duke over twitter after the game.

    The Texas A&M defense did not stop Duke much, but that didn’t seem to matter once Johnny Manziel started showing what the team was capable of offensively. They have had one of the worst defenses throughout the season, and Texas A&M ranked last in the Southeastern Conference and 105th in the nation in total defense. They were also 88th in the nation in scoring defense.

    Johnny Manziel impressed the fans and everyone else again last night as Texas A&M piled on the points in an impressive comeback win.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • 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

  • Johnny Manziel Is Among Finalists For Heisman Trophy

    Once again, Johnny Manziel has secured himself a trip to New York, and is listed among the top finalists for the Heisman Trophy. He is an outstanding player that he is quick on his feet, and has a strong arm, a very threatening quarterback for any defense to face.

    One of the best quarterbacks in the league, and in the SEC, Manziel elevates himself on another level during some games, reminding fans of quarterbacks such as Cam Newton or Russell Wilson.

    He is certainly not the favorite to win the award this year, but there is always the chance of him pulling a major upset. The man who has become known as simply “Johnny Football,” joins Jameis Winston, AJ McCarron, Tre Mason, Andre Williams and Jordan Lynch as the six Heisman finalists. It is only the second time in history that the committee has been unable to eliminate the number of finalists down to five, showing how competitive the league has been this year.

    Yesterday was a big day for the post-season of college football, as the schedule of the college bowls was announced as well, telling everyone where their favorite teams would be heading including Johnny Manziel’s Texas A&M Aggies. Texas A&M will be plaiyng against Duke in the Chick-fil-A bowl on December 31st at 8 p.m.

    Jameis Winston is certainly the favorite to win the award, however Johnny Manziel has had a wildly succcesful season as well. He won the Heisman Trophy last season, and has actually been putting up more impressive numbers this season surprisingly.

    Over the 2013 season, Manziel has thrown for 3,732 yards, 33 touchdowns and 13 interceptions, while completing 69 percent of his passes. He also ran for 7 touchdowns throughout the season, and provided impressive rushing yards in each game.

    Johnny Manziel may not have beaten Alabama this year as he was able to last year, but he came very close in an incredibly exciting game that went down to the final minutes, and went in favor of the Tide, 49-42. Weeks later, he led a blowout of Vanderbilt, but in the last few games of the season they struggled to win, and hurt the team’s chances of going to a better bowl.

    Johnny Manziel won the Heisman Trophy last year, and while it is not won by the same player two years in a row often, it has been done before. It is not likely that he will win, but he has certainly made the case for himself as one of the top quarterbacks in the league, and put up even more impressive statistics than when he won the award in 2012.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Heisman Finalists: The Final Six Candidates Have Been Announced

    Typically at this stage of the Heisman race, the amount of players eligible to win the award is narrowed down to five. However, this year, for the second time in history, there are six Heisman finalists to close out a very exciting year in college football.

    The Heisman Trophy is awarded to the most impressive player in college football, and there are several players attempting to make the case that they are the best this year.

    As a result, it was too hard for the committee to narrow the finalists down to five, and the top 6 are filled with top players from the SEC, and two players that will be seen in the national championship. It is the second time in history that there are six finalists, and the first time since it happened in 1994.

    The six finalists for the Heisman Trophy are Jameis Winston, AJ McCarron, Johnny Manziel, Andre Williams, Tre Mason, and Jordan Lynch. As usual, the Heisman finalists have been narrowed down to primarily quarterbacks, along with two running backs.

    The college bowl schedule was also released today, letting all of the teams and fans know where the teams would be heading during the off-season, and when the games would be played.

    Andre Williams, who is talked about less than any of the others, plays for Boston College. He ran for 2,102 yards, and 17 touchdowns, including racking up 200 or more yards five times during this season.

    Northern Illinois continued to make their case for a BCS bowl behind the play of Jordan Lynch, but fell short and was not able to defeat Bowling Green. However, Lynch has been impressive throughout the season and threw for 2,676 yards and 23 touchdowns, and ran for another 1,881 yards and 22 touchdowns. He also finished seventh in the Heisman voting last year.

    Tre Mason has been able to make his case for the Heisman over the past couple of games especially, helping his Auburn Tigers defeat Alabama in the Iron Bowl, and then gave a very impressive performance against Missouri in the SEC Championship Game, running for 304 yards, and scoring 3 touchdowns.

    Mason has not had the attention on him as much as some of the others this season, and was somewhat in disbelief when he heard the news. Upon hearing he was invited, he said “For me to be invited to the Heisman ceremony, I am honored and blessed. I couldn’t have done it without my teammates. This is an honor for all of them also.”

    Jameis Winston is the leading contender for the Heisman Trophy, as the quarterback of a Florida State team that has demolished their competition throughout the season. He is also heading to the BCS National Championship with a record of 13-0, easily handling their opponents throughout the entire sesaon.

    Winston ranks first in the NCAA in passing efficiency, passing yards per attempt and set the NCAA record for passing touchdowns by a freshman. He was also investigated for sexual assault recently for an incident that occurred almost a year go, and while he was not charged with anything, it has been a case that has been getting him a lot of attention recently. Of course, off the field drama is no stranger to Heisman hopefuls, with Reggie Bush and Cam Newton both experiencing similar situations in recent years.

    Joining Winston are two of the top quarterbacks in the SEC, AJ McCarron of Alabama, and Johnny Manziel from Texas A&M, who won the award last year. Johnny Manziel was very impressive during the first part of the season, including almost beating Alabama, and leading a blowout against Vanderbilt. However, his Aggies lost the last few games of the season, hurting his chances of winning the award.

    AJ McCarron has 2 national championships already in the past three years, and much of the country is well aware of what has been done at Alabama already in the past 3 years. However, after their loss to Auburn, they will not be heading to the national championship this year. Despite his success with the team, this is the first time that McCarron has been invited as one of the Heisman finalists.

    After the six Heisman finalists have been announced, it is hard to know who will come away with the award for sure, although Jameis Winston has certainly been the favorite recently. His Florida State Seminoles will be playing against the Auburn Tigers in the BCS National Championship on January 6th in Pasadena, California.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Bowl Projections: The Top Teams Are Lining Up, But Which Match-Ups Are Likely?

    There has been much controversy over the BCS in recent years, and throughout this season especially. As Alabama has won the BCS title game for the past two years, and remained at the No.1 spot for much of this year, the idea of them playing for the championship again seemed almost inevitable, but after last weekend, things have altered drastically.

    It is still hard to speculate over much of the bowl projections as things will not be final until after the results are in after this coming Saturday, but many experts are at it already, predicting where each of the top teams will be headed.

    The loss that Alabama endured in the final seconds of the Iron Bowl on Saturday severely hurt them in the BCS standings, and knocked them out of the title game, in a huge upset that Auburn delivered to the two-time defending champions.

    While rivalry week usually works to shake things up a little bit, the games that were played out this past Saturday certainly changed things for several teams, but most importantly Alabama.

    The new national championship match-up between Ohio State and Florida State is also a dream for college sports fans, and to be able to see two undefeated programs play will certainly be excting. In addtiion, it could be the first time that the SEC has been left out of the national championship in several years.

    The BCS standings saw a new No.1 team this week, and due to Alabama’s loss, Florida State moved up, while it is currently looking like the Seminoles will play Ohio State in the national championship. However, the Auburn Tigers put up a strong fight against Alabama, and if they are to win the SEC championship, some people are arguing that they may have a chance to play in the title game over Ohio State.

    While Johnny Manziel impressed fans and commentators throughout this season, his Texas A&M Aggies are currently on a 2-game losing streak, which has dropped them several spots in the rankings.

    Despite almost beating Alabama and several impressive performances, the Aggies are only projected to play against Iowa as it stands right now. Texas A&M was originally projected to play against UCF in the Sugar Bowl, but since they have faltered recently, things are looking much worse for Johnny Manziel and The Aggies.

    Michigan State is set to play against Stanford in the Rose Bowl against Stanford, and the Crimson Tide has dropped to the Orange Bowl where they are set to play against Clemson. Meanwhile, despite Auburn’s victory over Alabama, they are only predicted to go to the Sugar Bowl, with UCF as their opponent, a game that would heavily favor the Tigers.

    As the season comes to an end, fans can all get excited over the update bowl projections, and seeing where their favorite teams might head. Of course, there will be much debate over whether certain teams deserve to go to better bowls, and a variety of other scenarios, as they continue to play out in the minds of fans all over the country.

    Things are certainly getting interesting for Ohio State and Auburn as the teams head into their conference championships.

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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.

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  • Alabama at Texas A&M: Highest TV Ratings in 23 years

    Saturday afternoon, No. 1 Alabama and No. 6 Texas A&M made history, not on the field, but based on the TV ratings. The broadcast of Saturday afternoon’s game has earned the highest ratings for a CBS regular season college football game in over 23 years announced on Sunday by the Network. And it was a great game to watch.

    The game earned an overnight household ratings/share of 9.0/21, that’s up 200% from 2012’s SEC season opener on CBS, Alabama Crimson Tide v. Arkansas Razorbacks. The previous highest rating for an afternoon regular-season game was Miami v. Nome Dame played Oct. 20, 1990. The ratings apparently were highest during the fourth quarter of the game as Manziel was leading Texas A&M for an outrageous comeback about 7:00-7:15 p.m. ET.

    But, looks like Alabama will keep their number one spot after a 49-42 victory over Texas A&M, despite Johnny Manziel finishing the game with emaculate stats. This is why they call him, “Johnny Football.” Manziel completed 28 of 39 passing for a career-high 464 yards, five touchdown passes and 98 yards rushing. Two interceptions hurt the Aggies, especially the second one giving the Crimson Tide a commanding lead of three-touchdowns.

    If you break the game down, Alabama had a fantastic first half after they scored seven points in the first quarter, and 21 points in the second quarter. Texas scored 14 points in the first quarter and was shut down by Alabama defense in the second quarter. By the second half, Alabama defense felt a little intimidated by Manziel, after making a bit of a comeback. Alabama offense continued to successfully score and hoped they pulled this one out. Alabama managed a victory, starting Texas A&M out with a 0-1 record in the SEC.

    This victory was fueled by vengeance after their most recent match up last November, where A&M won 29-24. Though it wasn’t an easy win today for Alabama.

    “We needed everybody all in today,” Alabama Head Coach Nick Saban explained. “Even though it got ugly at times, they competed and it was a great win for us.”

    With Manziel still in the spotlight after off-the-field drama in the off season after he allegedly accepted payments from autographs that he had signed in January 2013, he was only suspended half a game. Everyone was a little eager to watch him go down.

    Main Article Image from Wikimedia Commons.

  • 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.

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  • Johnny Piñata: Bama Fans Ready for Manziel

    Ever felt like swinging at Texas A&M’s Johnny Manziel? One bar in Mountain Brook, Alabama lets you do just that with a piñata.

    Fans of the University of Alabama are known for their confidence–which some may consider cockiness–and the attitude for the upcoming game against Texas A&M is no different. Crimson Tide fans are expecting their team to retain their AP Poll No. 1 ranking this week and are having a little fun getting ready for the game. A bar in Mountain Brook, Alabama has taken things to another level with their piñata of Heisman winner Johnny Manziel.

    Otey’s Tavern owner Will Haver has watched his bar make national headlines after posting a picture of a 30-inch piñata called “Johnny Piñata” on Facebook. Haver is using the piñata as part of a trivia night promotion. The piñata is a likeness of Johnny Football and is complete with cash in one hand and a Sharpie marker in the other. In a post on Facebook acknowledging all of the media attention, Otey’s Tavern said, “Our concern is, will all this attention go to Johnny’s head?”

    So far, Haver doesn’t have any plans for the piñata set in stone. “We don’t know what we are going to do with it besides hang it up in the tavern and see if we can’t get some people to come by and take pictures,” Haver told AL.com. “Maybe we will have a bashing on Wednesday night, or, if he can make it all the way to the football game on Saturday, then after the game, we may do it some more.”

    Judging from the pictures posted to Otey’s Tavern Facebook page, Alabama fans are having a lot of fun with Johnny Piñata. Considering Manziel has been criticized over the past week for taunting Rice players, many are ready to see the Aggies quarterback taken down a notch. Bama opened as 7 point favorites earlier in the week in the game that will be played in College Station on Saturday.

    Some college football fans on Twitter think the bar is taking things too far with Johnny Piñata since they are mocking a 20-year-old student athlete, while others are enjoying the trash talk leading up to one of the biggest games of the season. What do you think? Add your comments about the piñata gimmick and game predictions below.

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  • Tom Brady Johnny Manziel: Don’t Be a “Turd”

    When asked about the taunting controversy surrounding Texas A&M’s Johnny Manziel, Patriots quarterback Tom Brady advised the Heisman winner not to be “a turd.”

    Apparently Johnny Football had saved up quite a bit of trash talk while sitting out the first half of the Texas A&M-Rice game last Saturday, because he ran his mouth just as often as he threw touchdown passes—a lot. Manziel was eventually benched by his coach in the fourth quarter after receiving an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.

    After first doing a “no autographs for you” gesture to one Owl player on a third-down conversion, Manziel threw a touchdown pass, which he followed up by directing a “money counting” gesture to other Owl defenders. Yellow flags were thrown, Johnny Football was benched, and after the game Texas A&M head coach Kevin Sumerlin said Manziel’s taunting “wasn’t very smart.”

    The football world isn’t too pleased about Manziel’s antics either, especially since many believe he got off easy after the autograph scandal. Brady did an interview on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Thursday when the host brought up the issue of showboating during a game, something the three-time Super Bowl champ doesn’t seem to think a lot of.

    “I get pretty emotional,” Brady said. ” I have a lot of respect for…my teammates, for my organization and certainly for other guys in the NFL. Football’s a physical game…and as [Kraft] would say, ‘If you’re a turd, it’s going to come back to you.’”

    In other words, Manziel better refrain from all the trash talk and taunting when the Aggies face SEC opponents such as Alabama and LSU later in the season. As Jadeveon Clowney showed with “The Hit” during the Michigan-South Carolina bowl game, you don’t want to give superior defenders any reason to get more fired up.

    Brady’s advice about not being a “turd” has received a lot of laughs as well as some criticism:

    Image via YouTube

  • Johnny Manziel Receives Half-Game Suspension

    When the NCAA announced that it was investigating Texas A&M star and defending Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel there were a lot of Aggies fans that were left to sweat it out, even though the player’s attorney’s claimed that he would see the field this season. Well, today those fans can breath a huge sigh of relief and look forward to the season they were anticipating all along.

    The NCAA announced today that they have concluded their investigation of Manziel and while he will face a suspension, it is not one that will see a lot of A&M fans up in arms. Manziel has been suspended for one half. The unorthodox suspension will be served during the first half of A&M’s season opener against the Rice Owls on Saturday.

    In the end Manziel was only found guilty of allowing his likeness to be used for monetary gain, which is only a minor violation of NCAA policy regarding players receiving compensation. Jim Darnell, Manziel’s attorney that claimed his client did nothing wrong, reportedly agreed to the short suspension in order to get Manziel back on the field and out of the NCAA’s sights.

    With the investigation behind them A&M can no focus on their national championship hopes and Manziel can work on defending his Heisman; he’ll just have to do it with one half less than the rest.

    [Photo via Fox Sports on YouTube]

  • Johnny Manziel Will Take the Field, Says Attorney

    Johnny “Football” Manziel will be taking the field as the Texas A&M quarterback this fall, despite the cascade of potential NCAA violations he’s facing.

    At least if his attorney is to be believed.

    Jim Darnell, an attorney specializing in NCAA infractions hired by the Manziel family, says that the beleaguered football star is “cooperating with [the current investigation against him]. We think when all this comes out on the other end, he’ll be the starting quarterback for the Aggies against Rice.” Manziel is currently facing losing his eligibility to play because he allegedly signed a lot of autographs for a lot of money.

    For those who need to be brought up to speed: Manziel is the reigning Heisman Trophy winner, the first “freshman” to win the award (“freshman” is used loosely—Manziel was a college sophomore when he received the award, though he was only in his first year of actually playing college football). Manziel has been a lightning rod for criticism since receiving the prize. Last spring, he only attended classes online, not wanting to be a “distraction” to his classmates. He has also been seen hobnobbing with various celebrities, getting kicked out of frat parties at the University of Texas, and going on Twitter-rants about getting parking tickets. He was also dismissed from the Manning family’s QB academy for being too hung-over to perform his duties.

    Some have dismissed his antics as those of a young man surprised by celebrity and struggling to cope. Others have assumed that his behavior stems from a lifetime of small-pond stardom and upper-middle-class entitlement (his parents bought him a Mercedes in high school).

    His latest and perhaps greatest threat to football success stems from the allegation that he’s taken thousands of dollars from sports memorabilia brokers for autographs, as first reported by ESPN’s “Outside the Lines.” According to NCAA Bylaw 12.5.2.1, “accepting money for promoting or advertising the commercial sale of a product or service” is prohibited, and a player can face being rendered ineligible to play if he or she does so. The 2013-14 season will be Manziel’s final season if he declares for the 2014 NFL draft, so if the NCAA finds that he is guilty of selling his name for profit, he’s likely seen his final snap as a college quarterback.

    The worst part of this? He allegedly sold $7,500 in autographs to get new rims for his car. Now there’s a guy who knows smart spending.

  • Jay Bilas Has Fun With NCAA/Johnny Manziel Hypocrisy On Twitter

    In case you missed it, there is a little bit of potential trouble surrounding the reigning Heisman Trophy winner, Johnny Manziel. It involves the oft-discussed quarterback potentially profiting from autograph sessions during the BCS Championship game. The story is ongoing, but if Manziel did, in fact, take the money, he will have violated the NCAA’s rule about “amateur” athletes profiting from their name. It’s the same kind of violation that tripped up the college careers of A.J Green and Terrelle Pryor.

    That, however, is not the story. The focus here is the hypocrisy being displayed by the NCAA, as pointed out by Jay Bilas on his Twitter account. What it boils down to is this, while Manziel and other players may not be able to profit from their likenesses, the NCAA sure as hell can. To make his point, Bilas conducted a few e-commerce searches and posted the results:


    In order to make his point in a loud and clear fashion, Bilas decided to employ a little bit of repetition, just so people know his findings are not unique to just one player. Furthermore, such redundancy shows just how far the NCAA’s double standard really stretches:


    Bilas didn’t stop there, either, but you get the idea. The question is, does the NCAA or will they continue to act absolutely tone deaf when it comes to this particular subject? It should also be noted Bilas wasn’t satisfied with just pointing out the NCAA’s hypocrisy regarding who can and can’t profit from athlete likenesses.

    He also proved to be fantastic troll who can lob brilliantly vicious salvos as well:


    It’s hard not to wonder how ESPN feels about one their analysts being so (accurately) critical of one their wealthy bedfellows. Granted, Bilas’ opinion garners a great deal of respect, and as long as he doesn’t cross any lines that could offend people–see Cooper, Riley–the Worldwide Leader will probably steer clear of this entire debate, unless they are the ones bringing the profiting athlete down. With that in mind, I wonder how Bilas feels about his employer doing most of the groundwork on the Manziel/autograph-gate story?

  • Johnny Manziel Under Investigation By NCAA

    Since leading his Texas A&M team to an 11-2 record in their first season in the South Eastern Conference and winning the Heisman Trophy in the process, college football sensation Johnny Manziel has repeatedly found himself in the center of controversial events that have called his judgement into question. He has become a lightning rod for media and fan scrutiny for his partying and was even booted from the prestigious Manning Passing Academy last month for reporting late to practice.

    While these minor indiscretions could be chalked up to his youth and recently gained social status as the face of college football, recent allegations from the NCAA could not only add to his bad boy image, it could also cost him precious time on the field.

    The NCAA recently opened an investigation into whether or not Manziel received compensation for signing autographs. The allegations stem from an encounter between Manziel and a Florida autograph dealer named Drew Tieman. Manziel reportedly signed hundreds of items at the behest of Tieman, including everything from photographs to mini souvenir helmets.

    The NCAA grew suspicious when the items began to appear of auction website Ebay. While no hard evidence of Manziel profiting from this home operation has been presented, it seems incredibly suspicious that Tieman would make thousands of dollars off of the autographs without kicking any back to Manziel. It is possible that Manziel is just that nice of a guy, but that is hard to accept in today’s era of the multi-millionaire athlete.

    If found guilty of violating NCAA rules regarding receiving compensation Manziel could face suspension or even being ruled ineligible for play. Similar situations have come up in the recent past, including an incident at Ohio State University in which several players, including then star quarterback Tyrrelle Pryor, were found to have received free tattoos from a Columbus parlor. The players were slapped with multi-game suspensions, but Pryor declared for the NFL before serving his.

    The public’s view of the investigation will likely fall on either side of the pay for play argument of whether or not student-athletes should be compensated by the NCAA. Texas head football coach Mack Brown recently came out in favor, but the debate rages on. If Manziel is found guilty, and that is still up in the air at this point, he could viewed either as a devious kid who is subverting the NCAA’s authority or a kid who only wants to profit in the same way everyone around him is.

    Texas A&M has refused to discuss the investigation with the media.

  • Texas A&M Freshman Killed in Car Accident

    Texas A&M redshirt freshman and defensive lineman Polo Manukainiu, age 19, was killed in a single car accident Monday afternoon just north of Cuba, New Mexico. Unfortunately, Manukainiu was not the only victim of the accident. Two other teens, Andrew “Lolo” Uhatafe (Polo’s 13 year old brother) and Gaius Vaenuku, an incoming freshman for the Utah Utes football team, were also killed. Aside from these three teens, there were two survivors of the wreck: Salesi Uhatafe, another incoming freshman for the Utah Utes, and Salesi Uhatafe Sr.

    According to a report from KRQE News in Albuquerque, New Mexico police are still investigating as to the cause of the crash. It is suspected that the driver of the vehicle veered off-road and then over-corrected the vehicle, resulting in the vehicle rolling over. There is no evidence thus far that alcohol is involved in causing the accident. However, a tweet made by Polo two hours prior to the accident may shed some light as to one factor of the accident. According to said tweet, the passengers of the vehicle were traveling on little to no sleep:

    (image)

    The news of Manukainiu’s death has deeply affected the campus of Texas A&M, a school that saw the death of two cadets earlier this year from an automobile accident, as well as the deaths of a football and basketball player in 2011 and 2010, respectively. Texas A&M football coach Kevin Sumlin released the following statement concerning Manukainiu’s death: “We lost a terrific young man. Polo was loved by his teammates and coaches. Anyone who came in contact with him was struck by his sense of humor and smile. My heart aches for his mom and family members.”

    Polo’s teammate and 2012-13 Heisman trophy winner Johnny Manziel, subject of recent controversy surrounding a frat party,  also spoke out about the accident through his Twitter account:

    (image)

    Despite this loss, Texas A&M is anticipating another successful season after going 11-2 last year and defeating Alabama, the only team to defeat the National Champions last year. The team is expected to report to training camp on Sunday, with practices beginning on Monday.