Second thoughts

Spotlight gets hotter for Manziel

Now that the SEC football media days have come and gone, it’s worth one more look at the circus that has left Hoover, Ala.

One of the biggest attractions under the big top Wednesday was Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel. Having a Heisman Trophy winner at the proceedings was big enough, but so too was the controversy surrounding his off-the-field behavior.

Why did he leave the Manning Passing Academy early? Why is he seen rubbing elbows with other famous athletes, musicians and the like? Why doesn’t he respect the Heisman more and stop acting like a 20-year-old sophomore?

With all that has gone on for Manziel in the off season, St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Bryan Burwell wrote that he’s not the only former Heisman winner to be burned by the spotlight.

“Look, I get that life in the big bubble can be a bit much for even a 40-year-old, much less a 20-year-old kid. But part of the price of fame sometimes is accepting different expectations,” Burwell wrote. “That Heisman Trophy is supposed to mean something. It’s supposed to put you on a higher plateau than the rest of the college football world.

“Funny, though, how many Heisman winners have not exactly lived up to that halo put over their heads. The Heisman fraternity is full of convicted felons, notorious party boys, gamblers, alcoholics, drug abusers and one of the most notorious accused murderers in America.

“So if the worst thing that Manziel is guilty of is the outlandish mistakes of an over served child of privilege who is attempting to fully use up every single solitary second of his 15 minutes of fame, Texas A&M and his family - and the Heisman Trust - should consider themselves lucky.”

More Manziel

Jeff Schultz of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution said if Johnny Manziel wants to be a normal kid, he’s on the wrong stage.

“Maybe one day Manziel will get it. He’s not like any other kid on a college campus,” Schultz wrote. “That thing under his feet: It’s a stage. He can’t hang in a bar district, get into a fight, carry fake IDs and expect to fly under the radar with other 20-year-olds who might have done the same thing. He can’t get arrested for said offenses, plead to misdemeanors, require an appeal to overturn a suspension and expect that it won’t raise red flags about his future.

“He can’t Tweet something whiny or stupid about wanting to get out of Texas A&M because of the microscope or a parking ticket - because he’s not just some nondescript sociology major.

“Manziel needs to realize that he’s different. He’s special. When he burps, it’s news.

“If he has significant issues in the areas of maturity or partying, we’ll know soon enough. The more immediate question is how quickly Manziel grasps his situation.

“Look around, Johnny: You’re not just another college kid.”

Quote of the day

“I’m amused by his warm-up routine. I would hurry to the course to watch it.”

Phil Mickelson on the stretching exercises used by Miguel Angel Jimenez

Sports, Pages 20 on 07/20/2013

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