Johnny Manziel says he is taking a break from Twitter.
The Texas A&M star quarterback has been overwhelmed with the attention he’s received and decided that leaving Twitter is the proper course of action for now.
“I’ve kind of just shut it all off,” Manziel told ESPN’s Mark Schlabach. “With how the media has been with me for a while, I just shut everything off. As of [Monday], I said I was done with [Twitter] for however long. It’s fun to have, but it can get to be distracting at points.”
Manziel won the Heisman Trophy after his record-breaking redshirt freshman season for the Aggies. Pictures of him partying at a New York club emerged shortly after the ceremony, and he has steadily remained in the news ever since.
“I’m surprised to [see] how the attention has continued through the offseason. I guess I thought it would die off and slow down a little bit, but it really hasn’t,” he told Schlabach.
It’s been the exact opposite; the buzz surrounding Manziel has only grown this offseason. The first signs of Manziel’s personality emerged after pictures of him partying in a Scooby Doo costume on Halloween were publicized. He went on to beat Alabama in Tuscaloosa, win the Heisman Trophy, and destroy Oklahoma in a bowl game.
Manziel did the Top 10 on Letterman, played golf with the Jonas Brothers, sat courtside at NBA games, showed off money he won at a casino, and he continued rubbing elbows with various celebrities after winning the Heisman. He became so popular that he began taking online courses this semester to avoid all the attention he receives on campus.
Taking online courses seems to have allowed Manziel more time to party; he was spotted partying at Mardi Gras in February, and he was in Mexico last week for spring break. He caused a huge stir when he was seen with a fake tattoo of the Texas Longhorns logo on his torso. He admitted to ESPN that was done as a joke.
“It was just a fun deal,” Manziel said. “Somebody dared me to do it, and we thought it would be funny.”
If his goal was to freak out Aggies fans, then he certainly succeeded.
Manziel may be taking a break from Twitter, but that might not be enough to stop the events of his personal life from being shared online. As long as he keeps partying or hanging out with celebrities, there will be others sharing the news and photos on their Twitter or Instagram accounts. He needs to cut out the partying if he wants his life to become more private. I don’t think that will fit his style.
