Larry Brown Sports

Remember Johnny Manziel’s tweet from the weekend that he couldn’t wait to leave College Station? Maybe it wasn’t as big of a deal as we thought.

Brent Zwerneman of the San Antonio Express News reports that Johnny Football was angry over receiving a parking ticket while he was out of town when he sent the tweet.

Here’s what Zwerneman reported:

Manziel, the 2012 Heisman Trophy winner, had been fishing in Port Aransas on Saturday and was still on the coast when he talked over the phone to an officer, who wrote him a ticket for being parked the wrong way in front of his house and for his windows being tinted too dark (his vehicle was in College Station while he was with friends in Port Aransas), according to the insider. Manziel tweeted out his frustrations in dealing with the matter, quickly removed the post, followed with a tweet that he loved A&M but for people to please walk in a day in his shoes.

[Related: Johnny Manziel tweets he ‘can’t wait to leave College Station’]

Does that all make sense to you? I’m not sure what walking a day in his shoes has to do with receiving a parking ticket. I mean anyone with a vehicle can cross the wrong side of the parking gods and receive a ticket. You don’t have to be a Heisman Trophy winner to have something like that happen.

Via Busted Coverage, here’s a look at Manziel’s car from a taping with ESPN:

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Johnny Manziel managed to turn Texas A&M into a national powerhouse in its first year as part of the SEC, but if not for an overturned appeal it’s possible “Johnny Football” would have never existed. According to The Dallas Morning News, Manziel came close to transferring prior to the 2012 season.

Texas A&M reportedly suspended Manziel for all of 2012 following an arrest at a College Station bar last summer. At around 2 a.m. on June 29, 2012, Manziel was arrested and charged with misdemeanors of fighting, failure to identify and possession of fake IDs. According to police reports, his friend called a man a racial slur which led to the fight.

Manziel appealed his suspension and won. He and his parents met with head coach Kevin Sumlin, who said he imposed discipline on Manziel, and the young quarterback decided to stay with the Aggies. He was considered the team’s backup quarterback at the time but ended up earning the starting job in August. Manziel has publicly stated that what happened with his arrest is a major regret.

“The first thing that goes through your mind is how many people you let down,” he said last November. “It was…something I’ll look back on as one of the biggest mistakes of my life.”

The Aggies went on to enjoy an 11-2 season and Manziel became the first freshman to ever win the Heisman Trophy. However, that does not mean he’s completely happy with Texas A&M. One of his recent tweets indicated that he is counting down the days until he can leave College Station, though Manziel later retracted what he said.

Celebrities, man — you never know what they’re thinking at any given moment.

It’s a new day in college football, and apparently these days you need to make viral movies in order to gain exposure for your program.

Arizona’s football team did that by making a Western-themed short movie, where head coach Rich Rodriguez poses as the sheriff.

“It’s High Noon at Old Tucson with the Arizona Football Staff. A Man on a quest for the Rose will choose the right men for the job,” says the video’s description on YouTube.

The video was posted by Arizona’s athletic department.

Rodriguez is entering his second season as head coach of the Wildcats after a failed three-year stint as coach at Michigan. The program went 8-5 in his first season on the job. As long as old Wyatt Earp’s able to continue roping in some solid recruits, he’ll have that program rolling in no time.

High school defensive end Arden Key verbally committed to the University of South Carolina on Sunday afternoon after visiting the campus last Friday. Key, who recorded 12 sacks and 58 tackles last season, said he was considering staying in his home state by committing to Georgia but instead opted for Steve Spurrier and the Gamecocks.

Like any other top recruit, Key factored a number of elements into his decision-making process. One of the things he enjoyed about his visit to USC was the realization of how difficult it is to fail a class.

“The academic part, it’s like you have to try to fail,” he said, via Palmetto Sports. “I love the coaches. They are always ready for something. And it isn’t far from home. It gives you a different environment. It’s in the city, but it’s also in the country.”

Now, let’s be fair and look at the comment objectively. On one hand, Key could be talking about how football players are given special treatment and classes are made incredibly easy for them. Keep in mind he has never attended class there, so he must have gotten this information from the coaches or students who are currently enrolled at South Carolina.

But we all know that type of thing would never take place on a college campus. Steve Spurrier may turn the other cheek when it comes to an underage player having a beer, but he would never stand for his players having an easy go of it in the classroom. What Key must have meant is that the football team’s tutors are so good that it would be impossible to not soak up enough knowledge to get a passing grade. Yeah, we’ll go with that.

UPDATE: As a commenter pointed out, it appears Palmetto Sports omitted an important piece of Key’s quote when writing their story.

Arden Key quote from interview right after he visited: "I liked the academic center. The academic center makes you want to study."

— Wes Mitchell (@WesMitchell247) June 18, 2013

H/T The Big Lead

High school wide receiver recruit Derek Kief announced his commitment to Alabama in a very unique way over the weekend. Kief, who is a four-star recruit that is ranked 32nd at his position by Scout.com, had been keeping fans in the loop by regularly updating his personal website to inform them of which schools he was considering.

Kief had narrowed his decision down to Alabama, Notre Dame, Kentucky, Ohio State and Northwestern before posting the clever video you see above on YouTube on Sunday. The La Salle High school star incorporated his whole family into the clip before unveiling his baby sister Zoey, who was dressed in Crimson Tide colors with an Alabama “A” on the front of her outfit. After that, his entire family was dressed in Alabama gear and enthusiastically making the “Roll Tide” hand signal.

That’s a lot of hype for a high school recruit, but it’s nothing we aren’t used to seeing. Whether it be a football player getting a tattoo and later changing his mind or basketball player shaving a logo into the back of his head, announcing one’s commitment has become a production in itself. Let’s hope Kief lives up to the hype that he is creating for himself.

H/T Dr. Saturday

There aren’t many people who embody Michigan football more than Desmond Howard. Howard won a Heisman Trophy at Michigan, led the Big Ten in receiving yards and touchdowns twice, and he led the Wolverines to two Rose Bowls. And the poor guy became the unwitting participant in an O-H-I-O spellout, courtesy of some conniving Ohio State Buckeyes fans.

We’ll definitely give these Buckeyes fans an A+ for their creative work, but come on, that’s not really fair at all to Howard! The current college football analyst still hasn’t responded yet to being part of this sneak attack.

Photo credit: Twitter/Brutus Buckeye
H/T Eleven Warriors via College Spun

Johnny Manziel has gotten himself into trouble through his use of social media many times in the past, but nothing may have been worse than what happened on Saturday night.

The Heisman Trophy winner tweeted that “bulls— like tonight is a reason why I can’t wait to leave College Station…whenever it may be.”

The tweet was up briefly before Manziel removed it.

In response to his controversial tweet, Manziel tweeted another note:

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