Larry Brown Sports

Johnny Manziel’s dream offseason continued this weekend. The Texas A&M quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner tweeted on Saturday to say that he was at Pebble Beach playing golf with his family.

Manziel has not been shy about sharing all the amazing things he has done. He tweets pictures when he’s at big-time NBA or MLB games, and he’s gone on vacations to Mexico, New Orleans, and Toronto in recent months. The lavish lifestyle has led to many people questioning how he is able to afford all the luxuries despite being a college student. Others have wondered how he even has time to be a student with all the fun things he seems to be doing.

Manziel responded to some of the criticism he heard over Twitter after tweeting about his golfing exploits:

RT“@joebro26: @jmanziel2 seems like your putting a lot of work into football these days douchebag” here working with my QB coach AND golfing

— Johnny Manziel (@JManziel2) May 11, 2013

Okay now that everybody ripped me for playing some golf with the family..how’s everyone’s day going? Done with finals and enjoying summer?

— Johnny Manziel (@JManziel2) May 11, 2013

Credit to Manziel for breaking 80 at Pebble — he said he birdied 18 to shoot a 79. How about that? He’s pretty good at two sports.

Photo credit: Twitter/Johnny Manziel

Johnny Manziel was the best quarterback in college football and the best player in the nation last year at Texas A&M, or so his Heisman Trophy says. Manziel became the first freshman ever to take home to coveted Heisman, which has everyone excited about what the future could hold for Johnny Football. According to one NFL.com scout, it may not be much when it comes time for him to play professionally.

Before you freak out about the phenomenal season Manziel had in 2012 and how he is only 20 years old, give Bucky Brooks’ full assessment a chance. Brooks believes Manziel currently projects to be a “marginal pro.” How is that possible for someone who did what he did for the Aggies last season? It has a lot to do with the difference between college football and the NFL.

Brooks, who mentioned multiple times how Manziel is one of the most electric players he has ever seen, focused on four areas — athleticism, arm talent, pocket presence and clutch factor. He cited Manziel’s ability to improvise and scramble as reasons he presents a nightmare scenario for opposing defensive coordinators, but a lot of that stuff may not work at the NFL level.

Manziel is an exceptional athlete, which we can see based on his running ability, but he makes a ton of plays outside the pocket. When teams force Manziel to remain inside the pocket, he is less effective. In losses to Florida and LSU last season, Manziel was forced to throw more and run less. The fact that he is more effective outside the pocket will be a concern for NFL teams, considering how much bigger and faster defensive lineman and linebackers are at the next level.

Again, Manziel is an incredible playmaker. He could easily build his arm strength and become a better pocket passer over the next two or three seasons, which would send his draft stock higher than it already is. That being said, we have seen plenty of quarterbacks dominate the college game and not be able to get it done at the pro level. Time will tell if Manziel will be another one of those guys.

And no, this has nothing to do with controversial pictures like this.

The picture seen above of Johnny Manziel kissing his Heisman Trophy while the stiff arm is supposedly holding a blunt has been circulating on the ‘net, but the Texas A&M quarterback says it’s a fake.

The Manziel photo was first posted by Outkick the Coverage on Monday. Clay Travis, who posted the photo, knew it would go viral, so he asked Texas A&M for a comment. He hasn’t received a response from the school, but the QB did address the picture:

ABSOLUTELY PHOTOSHOPPED. People are always out to get me…sorry for kissing my trophy

— Johnny Manziel (@JManziel2) April 22, 2013

The photo being taken on 4/20, which is essentially a national holiday for pot smokers, led Travis to believe it was legitimate, though he did allow for the possibility that it was a fake. Manziel was also in his hometown of Kerrville, Texas, over the weekend, and he had his trophy out for pictures.

Manziel was part of a photo controversy earlier this offseason when he was seen with a Texas Longhorns tattoo on his torso, which was later determined to be a Henna tattoo.

So, are you buying Manziel’s explanation, or do you think the photo is real?

Johnny Manziel is more than just a Texas A&M football star and a Heisman Trophy winning quarterback. He is also a yes man.

As we have learned over the course of the offseason, Manziel loves to have a good time. There have been occasions where he has sparked a bit of controversy because of his fun-loving attitude, but the 20-year-old enjoys putting smiles on people’s faces. Because of that, he has trouble turning down requests for autographs and pictures. Apparently Texas A&M has someone who was been working with Manziel to change that.

“No matter how badly you want to, you can’t make everybody happy,” Manziel told ESPN.com’s Chris Low. “They brought in somebody to help me with that, learning how to say no, and yet, still be polite.”

Sometimes it’s better to not be photographed at all than to have people talking about how you flashed the sign of a rival team or won a bunch of cash at the casino. However, Manziel said he has no intention of changing the personality that has led to so much success on the football field.

“It’s hard sometimes, but I’m at the point now that I don’t care what people say,” Manziel said. “Everybody’s watching, and I understand that. For me, the spotlight wasn’t there at all, and then just like that, it was everywhere I went. It took some getting used to, but it’s getting better.

“I’m not going to quit being me and quit doing all the things I love, but I check with a lot more people now before I do anything.”

The more non-football related photographs there are of a player circulating around the internet, the more chances there are for that player to get himself into trouble. Rob Gronkowski could probably shed some light onto that, although I’m not sure he’s the best role model for Johnny Football. The bottom line is Manziel’s top priority needs to be the Aggies at all times. From the sound of it, that’s something he understands now better than he ever has.

H/T Dallas Morning News

Johnny Manziel has had an eventful offseason filled with trips, vacations, sports events, and celebrity interactions. But the Texas A&M quarterback says his coolest experience of all since winning the Heisman Trophy was meeting rapper Drake in Toronto.

Manziel joined “Rage” with Richie and Greggo on 105.3 The Fan on Friday and was asked about his coolest moment since winning the Heisman.

“Probably meeting Drake,” Manziel said. “I went to Toronto before I went to Cabo for spring break and got to hang out with him and all of his crew and kind of watch how the music was made. Just got a chance to get to know him a little better and get advice from someone who I really, really like their music.”

Anyone who has been following Manziel lately should not be too surprised by his comment. The Aggies quarterback has been repping Drake all over the place.

When he returned to Twitter on Wednesday, he did so by quoting a lyric from Drake’s 5 AM in Toronto song. Most of his tweets on Thursday morning included some reference to Drake and his crew, including this one:

My brother aka the kid aka @drake retweeting me is family #tOVOnto

— Johnny Manziel (@JManziel2) April 12, 2013

He also has been sharing photos on Instagram of himself wearing clothing with Drake’s “OVO” logo on it (as seen above).

Manziel told Rage that he is trying hard to be the same person his parents raised him to be despite all the attention he’s received. He revealed that he keeps his Heisman Trophy at his parents’ home because it is a safe environment for the prized possession. Manziel also commented on his fake Longhorns tattoo that caused a stir on the Internet.

“I should have known better that it would have got blown out and put out everywhere,” Manziel told Rage. “It was just kind of joking with a Longhorn on spring break in Cabo kind of like a dare.”

The redshirt sophomore also talked about his expectations for the upcoming season.

“I expect hostility whenever we’re traveling. I have a target on my back, we have a target on our back. Obviously there’s going to be people trying to get under my skin, rattle me. But I just have to make sure that my teammates and my coaches are what matters the most, block all the other stuff out.”

A&M went 11-2 last season and finished second in the SEC West behind Alabama. He believes they can win the league this season.

The good news for Aggies fans is despite Johnny Football’s world tour since winning the Heisman, he looked good at the team’s spring game. Manziel went 24 of 28 for 303 yards and three touchdowns.

Photo: Instagram/Johnny Manziel

Johnny Manziel broke a self-imposed Twitter ban by tweeting out some random lyrics to a Drake song early Wednesday morning.

In case you don’t recognize them, those lyrics are from rapper Drake’s 5AM in Toronto song. Manziel tweeted the clean version of the lyrics.

Prior to sending out the Drake lyrics, Manziel had not tweeted since March 25. Apparently an impostor account tweeted some criticism of Ohio State guard Aaron Craft, leading many Buckeyes fans to become angry with Manziel. The next day he told ESPN that he was shutting it all off because it can be a distraction.

Even though Manziel is no longer tweeting — until this morning — he has been using Instagram. Over the weekend, he messed with Aggies fans by throwing up Texas Tech’s “guns up” symbol.

Johnny Manziel may have made a seemingly mature decision last month when he announced he is taking a break from Twitter, but the Texas A&M star has remained active with his Instagram account. Isn’t that basically the same thing? You can certainly use Instagram to piss people off just as effectively as Twitter, which Manziel reminded us of early Saturday morning.

As you can see, the Heisman Trophy winner posted a photo of him flashing Texas Tech’s “guns up” symbol with a young lady who appears to be his friend. We did a bit of poking around on Instagram and discovered that Manziel appeared in another photo with the young woman about five months ago. It also looks as though she has worked on the sidelines of Red Raiders games, possibly as a student manager. The photo was captioned as follows:

“#Getyourdamngunsup #kingsbury #gigem”

It should be noted that Kliff Kingsbury, who is now the head coach at Texas Tech, was Manziel’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Texas A&M last season. He was probably just having a little fun supporting his friend and his former coach, but that doesn’t mean Aggies fans are going to appreciate it. It will probably go over about as well as this controversial tattoo picture did.