Jones backs Manziel for NFL comeback
HAMILTON — The fascination is understandable.
People want to see Johnny Manziel play.
They want to see the guy who won a Heisman Trophy in 2012 with Texas A&M, became Johnny Football and basically turned the football world on its head before it all spiralled out of control when he became a pro.
The story should be familiar to even the most marginal football fan, so we won’t relive the gory details of the fall here. Suffice to say, Manziel is in the CFL to rebuild his reputation as a good football player and good all around citizen with the hopes of one day having another shot at the NFL.
Talk to Ticats head coach June Jones about the fascination of the moment and you hear a man impressed with what he has seen both on the field and off, but one who doesn’t really require his football services for the time being.
Jones went so far as to suggest the other day that regardless of what Manziel does on the field with the Ticats over this season and next, his chances at another shot with the NFL look very good right now.
“He is always going to get a chance, I think, as long as he takes care of what everybody is concerned about,” Jones said alluding to, but not specifying any off-field issues. “I don’t see anything but a humble leader preparing himself for when he gets that chance. That is what he needs to do. He is a good kid.”
Having said that, Jones remains entirely in Masoli’s corner when it comes to who his starter is.
“I just know what I know and I know he is a good football player,” Jones said of Masoli who was one of three CFL Top Performers this week, throwing for 332 years and three touchdowns in Hamilton’s 38-21 win over the Eskimos in Edmonton. “I think Johnny is a good football player and he’s going to be good up here one day when he gets his chance too.”
But Jones, unlike a specific broadcaster that carries all the league games, is not in any hurry to see that happen.
“I said this the other night, I hope he doesn’t get a chance,” Jones said. “I hope we can put him in and get him some experience when we are way ahead. That is what I would like to see. He has all that stuff that Jeremiah has. He has those intangibles as a quarterback. I already see that on the sidelines, I see it in practice. He’s a player and Jeremiah is a very good quarterback as I have said.”