With less than three weeks remaining before the college football season begins (and can we all do a group hug and high five right quickly to celebrate that?), players and coaches all over the nation are in the final stages of getting things polished up before it's time to tee it up for that first "real" game of the 2013 campaign.
Of course, this also includes College Station, home of Kevin Sumlin's Texas A & M Aggies, who were hoping last year's surprising 10-win introduction to the Southeastern Conference might lead to even bigger things this coming season......such as possibly even contending for a national championship behind a talented roster which includes sophomore quarterback Johnny Manziel. Manziel, AKA "Johnny Football," is of course the returning Heisman Trophy winner after amassing an obscene set of numbers both passing and running to help guide the Aggies to a prolific season which included an upset of eventual national champion Alabama in Tuscaloosa.
But besides using fall practice to put the final touches on various Xs and Os strategy and personnel issues, Sumlin, no doubt, is also having to continuously keep up with his on-field "leader" (and I really use that term loosely with Manziel) and make sure he is not off selling autographs again, in jail or perhaps in a frat house fight somewhere.
Unless you have been in a cave this off-season, then you are well aware that no athlete, other than maybe Alex Rodriguez, has been under the microscope more than Manziel, the ever cocky one.......And not many of the headlines regarding Manziel have been very pretty.
Whether it be his misguided Twitter ramblings, his abrupt departure from the Manning Quarterback Camp, his drunken frat house adventures, his unflattering cover stories in both ESPN The Magazine and Sports Illustrated and now his alleged profiting from sales of his autographs, Manziel's image has been left basically in tatters and his escapades have also put a promising Aggie season in serious limbo.
Various stories have alluded to Manziel's problems with alcohol and his temper, as well as an often defiant and entitled attitude. That defiance, as well as his apparent disregard for rules and authority, may come back to haunt him and his teammates if he is actually suspended for all or parts of the 2013 season because of his alleged dealings with autograph merchandisers.
Of course many people have not been shy about quickly voicing their opinions about Manziel, with most of them characterizing him as a spoiled, rich, cocky brat. I would tend to agree with many of those characterizations at this point.
I would also say that Manziel has definitely appeared to live down to the stereotypes that many people tend to have of college students, especially frat boy types, in regard to his partying, his use of alcohol and his apparent disregard for responsibility and authority. Of course all college students do not fit this description, but unfortunately there are also plenty like Manziel who do embrace those stereotypes and in turn put a dark light on the college population in general. I think you probably already know by now from reading this how I pretty much feel about a lot of frat boy types, so it's probably best to just move on for now. Some frat boys are not that bad either, though.
While Manziel has pretty much made his own bed with his various actions and comments over the past few months, the people that you truly have to feel for in this whole soap opera are his parents, his teammates and his coaches.
If you have read the compelling piece on Manziel in ESPN The Magazine by Wright Thompson, then you are aware of the concern expressed by Manziel's father and other people regarding his son's temper and alcohol use among other things. Of course many people might argue that Manziel's parents contributed heavily to their son's behavior by perhaps giving him everything that he ever wanted, but it is still a heartbreaking read in some ways. There is no doubt from reading the article that Manziel's parents love him dearly and are extremely worried about the road in which the superstar quarterback is possibly traveling.
Then there are Sumlin, his coaching staff and the 2013 Aggie players. These are the people who have dedicated themselves this whole offseason to fulfilling many of the huge expectations that the Aggie program has created for itself, but have had to deal with nothing but distraction after distraction from the student-athlete who is face of the program, and who is supposed to be the team's unquestionable leader. All Manziel has done, however, is portray himself as a stressed-out victim who is "only" 20-years-old. Sorry Johnny, I have known plenty of 16 and 17-year-old types who have demonstrated a lot more maturity than you have during the past few months.
Of course, during the recent SEC Media Days in Hoover, much of the spotlight and media scrutiny was focused right there on "Johnny Football," and it grew ever tiresome watching Manziel trying to squirm out of responsibility for his actions, and justifying them because of his age. I have NO doubt that the other Aggies on hand at the media session were asked incessant questions about their quarterback, and I also have no doubt that his teammates have grown very weary, if not totally irritated and exhausted, about responding to inquiries about their misguided signal-caller.
Now comes the question about what should happen to Manziel, if it is proven that indeed he did profit from the sale of his autographs. Of course some perhaps-insane journalist types have compared Manziel to iconic civil rights figure Rosa Parks in calling him the poster child for leading the movement for student-athletes to be paid. Of course this is absurd, as Manziel does not seem to be a poster child for anything other than deviant behavior.
Some have commented that they feel Manziel should not be suspended if the allegations are true about his being paid for his signatures, noting that perhaps a fine would be sufficient or that the case would be solved simply by Manziel or his family returning any money that he gained from the signatures.
I know that many Alabama fans would love to see Manziel on the field on Sept. 14 at Kyle Field, as Nick Saban's Crimson Tide seeks payback for its only defeat during its national championship season of 2012.
I don't agree, however. No one can tell me that college athletes are not very well-versed about the issues of dealing with agents, boosters or anything that might translate into them profiting in any way. By the way, I am also TOTALLY opposed to college athletes receiving any type of income. They are already given numerous advantages, and plenty of luxuries that their fellow college peers are not afforded, and this has always been the case. If they stay out of trouble, work hard and keep their noses clean, they will eventually have their opportunity to play for pay down the road.
If it is indeed proven that Manziel profited from the sale of his signatures, he should not be allowed to represent Texas A & M on the field, because it will then be apparent that the quarterback knew about the rules, but chose to defiantly disregard them. No player, no matter how important he is to his team, and how widely popular he is, is above the rules, and that is the message which should be sent. LSU coach Les Miles needs to think about that too if he is even thinking about allowing star running back Jeremy Hill to play in the Tigers' opener against TCU, if at all this season.
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