Texas A&M’s mighty might QB is showing signs of buckling under pressure. The little hero that could, who tiptoed into the hearts of Aggie fans last year with his amazing backyard football skills looked like he was immune to such a thing.
But not now. Now the boy wonder appears to be folding like a card table with a Charlie Weis sitting on it.
Johnny Manziel’s fame and lore has taken a hit due to Twitter before, calling for a permanent boycott of the social networking vehicle this past March…a boycott that lasted all of 16 days. But recently Manziel forsook the Aggie nation that worships at his feet.
According to LarryBrownSports.com, Manziel tweeted his frustration about living in College Station on Saturday night, only to delete it soon after.
A little over an hour later, the Aggies’ QB shnoz-meister then offered this reprieve:
This is what being a whale in a swimming pool will bring you. This time last year, Johnny Manziel lived a different life. The elusive quarterback had yet to make his first tackler miss, or throw a ridiculous, unlikely-to-be-completed touchdown pass. Now, Manziel’s life is drastically different.
They say great wealth brings as much, or more, stress than does poverty. Most would like to find this out to make their own determination, but in the college football world, Johnny Manziel has gone from Jimmy Buffet to Warren Buffet. Gone are the days of easy going anonymity among friends. Manziel is a big boy now. And from his endless string of ridiculous tweets, those growing pains seem to have taken their toll.
But it doesn’t just stop with Manziel. Texas A&M’s rise to national power has led to a lot of stupidity spewing from those Texas-sized oral cavities. The remarks by the Aggie AD and president sheds light on a group of men who love their university, but don’t yet know how this game is played. Seems those in College Station haven’t heard that word travels at the speed of light on the interwebs.
So what happens when you limp out of one conference, enter the strongest league in the land, stumble across an electrifying player, and come dangerously close to significance? You do stupid things, like have your leadership making reference to “controling the Tide” after one meeting. Like Jed Clampett, Texas A&M struck gold (or Texas tea) and lucked into prominence, if you call non-championship football prominence.
Now, it seems the rise to power (again, if you call non-championship football “power”), is tugging at the very seams of this program that its proud fanbase wants to believe is on the same level with the Crimson Tides of the land. And as the Aggie leadership plays to alumni dinners, and Johnny Football unravels himself into frustrated, 20-year-old frenzy via social media, Nick Saban and his army of top recruits eats, sleeps and breathes a certain game that stands between him and a fourth National Championship in five years. If you don’t want to take the time to check his record under such situations, here’s a hint: It’s pretty good.
Alabama football and Nick Saban eats pressure like the kind that’s crippling the Aggies and their quarterback. And as Saban has covered before, there’s a rare-air that comes with being at the top. You either learn to breathe it in and let it sustain you, or it chokes you. We’ve seen the Tide’s record the last five years at that altitude. And in less than a year’s time, it’s pretty clear what it’s doing in College Station.
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8 thoughts on “Texas A&M and Johnny Football caving under the pressure? The answer is in your Sunday Cup of Coffee”
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When Alabama comes to College Station, Manziel won’t know the difference. He’ll be more ready for the game than frustrated with anything (or anyone) at his home field. He’s got all the coaches and even his own dedicated coaches to keep him focused and to tell him whatever it is they think he needs to hear to get him ready for the game.
But good grief.
Manziel has the talent to be a superstar. He already showed enough talent to win the Heisman. But then he gets on twitter deliberately so often and so controvertially from time to time (seemingly on purpose as well, like the blunt-Heisman trophy, the fake tattoos of formal rival programs, the front-row touring of North America, the training 1,200 miles away, etc) it’s hard to swallow that he’s upset at all, ever, about how people treat him via the social media he himself has so purposely stirred up.
Alabama deals with pressure, sure. But the coaches at Alabama also purposely attempt to limit the players’ accessibility to social media while at the same time hightening their accountability. That doesn’t mean all Alabama stars are drama-free on social media, but Manziel stands alone, and he’s done it deliberately enough to remove any kind of empathetic pity I might have had. Think about it—–in spite of the longer and brighter limelight AJ McCarron has had, how big of a surprise would it be if he said, “I can’t wait to leave Tuscaloosa because of garbage like tonight,” particularly in the off-season?
Whatever happened to him to originate this tweet (and any other reaction he may broadcast as a result) is incidental. It doesn’t matter. AJ McCarron has been on live TV crying, he’s been bashed for everything from his dating life to his body to his tattoos, and he’s had greater success on the field than Manziel, yet he’s avoided externally broadcasting the kind of drama that seems to bother Manziel the most. Will it matter in September? I doubt it. But it doesn’t make me feel sorry for Johnny Football and may say something about mental preparedness in College Station.
A&M the Beverly Hillbillies? That’s pretty rich. Before you make those kinds of statements you might want to check your world class academic standing. Put your junk on anyone’s face lately? Poisoned any trees? Now go back to your trailer, re-watch your last NC and pat yourself on the back.
Alabama has one of the highest graduation rates in the land. Happy imploding. If you need us we’ll be vying for our fourth natty in half a decade.
aTm is nothing but Neckburn without all the culture and sophistication.
Really?????? LOL Please check what is in your coffee or just say no to drugs. Johnny will be fine and Bama better be prepared, because this will be a good one. When yall get here “Welcome to the Home of the 12TH Man”
Just keep ignoring Johnny Football’s inability to grow up. You’ll be fine, too.
Nobody’s disputing his talent. Many are questioning his mental toughness.
aggies just enjoying the cinderella ride while it last comes crashing 3rd week in september
This blog has the smell of an I Wish I Knew piece. Poor writing (that is why he doesn’t have a journalism job), pictures of his family (the hillbillies his brother and father Jethro), and pure jealousy of Manziel who is light years ahead of stick tattoo.
If Manziel had Bama OL last year he would have had another 500 yards of total offense.
Keep dreaming of beating AM, I hope they beat you 99-0. And you can take your blog site and shit it out onto your moms nasty hairy chest.
BLOW TIDE!!!