Monday August 14, 2023 – Johnny Manziel

Monday August 14, 2023 – Johnny Manziel

Over the weekend I watched the Netflix documentary on Johnny Manziel. Here’s what I’m thinking…

Warning – Florida will probably ban it. It does have the F word stated quite frequently.

It was 112 minutes of the rise and fall of Johnny Manziel. I was left wanting 112 more minutes and maybe 112 more after that. A majority of the documentary focused on his amazing talent from Kerrville Tivy High School to Texas A&M. To see those memories was indeed thrilling. He was unbelievable. I actually remember where I was when I said (rather screamed), “Oh my God! We’re going to beat Alabama!”

There were many people interviewed. I was reminded of Kris Kristofferson’s song Who’s to Bless and Who’s to Blame? There were many enablers who were to blame and an equal number to bless. And some of the individuals resided in both camps.

I think one is going to see Manziel as they want to see him. The special raw talent who threw it all away. The troubled individual who to quote Brando “Could have been a contender.” There will be many points of view.

There were many minutes of Kliff Kingsbury interviews. I had forgotten he was OC. The only Head Coach Kevin Sumlin words were a few seconds replayed of a press interview. To me it seems their attitude was “As long as you can play football and perform…” Manziel even said, “I got the fourth string QB to do my drug testing.”  Would that be Conner McQueen?

There were no Aggie team mates interviewed. Kevin Sumlin was not interviewed. The fourth-string quarterback was not interviewed.

Most of the minutes were spent on the rise and success. Less time was spent after he was drafted by Cleveland. This appears to be where the unstoppable decline began. Maybe there is another 112 minutes of story here.

I was left with many questions. It did not seem to offer any “lessons learned.” It did not seem to focus on mental health issues. Here was a 20 year old kid who was suddenly thrust into glamour, fame and friends of questionable influence. How was all of this allowed to happen? Why was he allowed to continued such behaviors? To me the parental attitude (and they were interviewed – kinda) was after the facts and in hindsight. Not a psychologist, but I think there was more parental influence than was portrayed.

The documentary does indeed portray a very complex and talented, but troubled individual. I think you should watch and determine for yourself.

As he says, “I am Johnny Fucking Football.”

To me he demonstrated no remorse, along with an attitude of “What a ride! Yes, I’d do it all again if the opportunity arose.”

But…

We are the Aggies; the Aggies are we…

And we beat Alabama!

Pray for rain! Pray for Maui!