After weeks of talk, it’s time to see what Manziel can do on the field
Als’ new quarterback believes he’s ready for real thing, and coach Sherman agrees
On the night news broke of the Johnny Manziel trade in Canada, it was the most read story on American-based website ESPN. This week, Sports Illustrated also posted a small story on its site.
Everyone — save for Als quarterback Vernon Adams last week — wants to talk about Manziel, the former Heisman Trophy winner and one-time first-round draft choice of the Cleveland Browns.
When TSN advertised Friday night’s game (7:30 p.m., TSN, RDS, TSN Radio-690) between Montreal and the Hamilton TigerCats at Molson Stadium, it billed the match as Manziel and the Als.
The phenomenon has been unique to witness as it unfolds, but Montreal’s CFL team suddenly is relevant again. There’s finally some excitement, along with some intrigue, surrounding the struggling club.
“I think there’s two parts to people. Some want to see him succeed. Others probably want to see him fail. He has both parts to that story,” Alouettes head coach Mike Sherman said.
“That’s what people are looking for. It sells newspapers and internet spots and tweets to this point, and I don’t expect anything different.”
After receiving a reprieve from the media last Monday, Manziel has spent three straight days facing the horde that comes to practice, it seems, exclusively to watch and interview him. He spends no more than several minutes answering a limited number of questions — his responses tend to be soliloquies, not that there’s anything wrong with that — before he’s whisked away by a team official.
The media who cover the team on a regular basis must adjust to this new reality — although Anthony Calvillo, in 16 seasons with the Als, never had a limited window in which to answer queries.
Truthfully, there’s nothing much left for Manziel to say at this point. The time has come to play the game, providing the organization — and fans — with the first glimpse of what the Alouettes acquired on July 22. Manziel was one of five players involved in the trade with the Ticats.
Manziel becomes the 14th quarterback for the Als since Calvillo suffered a career-ending concussion in August 2013. This is Montreal’s seventh game this season and they’ve already utilized four pivots — Drew Willy, Jeff Mathews, Matt Shiltz and Adams.
“I’m hoping to come in and just provide above-average, solid quarterback play and give us something consistent, week in and week out,” Manziel said. “I don’t feel like I need to come up here and completely light everything on fire and throw for 500 yards a game. I just want to come in and be a solid starter, eliminate turnovers and, hopefully, go out and make some plays. I feel like I can contribute that for sure.
“If you have a quarterback you believe in and is going to be your guy, you hope that elevates your team and offence as a whole to get to where you need to be, get to the right plays and make the right throws.
“Can one person help boost a team’s profile and history and get them to where they need to be? Sure. It could be a missing piece. But at the end of the day, it’s a full team sport.”
Sherman said he has been impressed with Manziel’s knowledge of the offence in a limited amount of time — although his agent, Erik Burkhardt, said it was insane to start him this quickly following his arrival. Sherman added the CFL rookie is extremely intelligent and can assimilate information at a very high rate. He simply wants him to manage the game while leaning on the players around him.
“Johnny’s a very smart kid,” Sherman said. “He can articulate his thoughts as well as any 25-year-old I’ve been around. He’s very talented in a lot of ways. He remembers things out there ... the formations, motions and waggles I struggle with. He’s got them down. Sometimes I have to think twice about it. Physically, he has made the throws in practice. There’s not a throw he can’t make.
“With all due respect to his agent, what defence does John know better? He’s going to have to start eventually. He’s going to have some growing pains. If I didn’t think he was ready ...”
Historically, CFL rookie quarterbacks struggle. But that doesn’t mean Manziel can’t catch lightning in a bottle. It has happened before in Montreal.
In his first CFL start, Sept. 4, 2013 against Toronto, Tanner Marsh passed for 309 yards and a touchdown in a 20-9 victory. Two seasons later, on July 3, 2015, Rakeem Cato threw for 241 yards and three touchdowns in a 29-11 upset over Calgary. Both games were played at home.
Manziel has impressed his teammates as well with his leadership qualities. They seem to believe he can walk on water.
“You listen to this man talk and watch him play. He’s a player,” tailback Tyrell Sutton said. “At the end of the day, he knows what he’s doing. He’s a natural-born leader.
“He’s poised. He knows what he’s doing. He flies around. He’s competitive. He takes control. That’s what you like to see from your quarterback. He lets everyone know what they’re supposed to do, when and how.”
The talking ’s over. Now the time has come to play ball. Enjoy the ride.