Ex-Heisman star stirs dreams
AUSTIN, Texas — It felt familiar: Johnny Manziel scrambling to his right, releasing the ball as the defender arrived to deliver a blow. The ball slipped in to the receiver in the back of the end zone. Touchdown, a la Manziel’s Heisman Trophy days at Texas A&M in 2012.
A clip of the 2-yard score on Twitter quickly racked up thousands of views. Indeed, Manziel flashed a couple vintage “Johnny Football” moments Saturday in The Spring League in his first football game of any kind in over two years.
But it’s hard to get carried away with what the highlights from the humble setting of the developmental league mean for his ComebackSZN, as Manziel calls it. It remains to be seen if an NFL team will be convinced to give him another shot. Speculation rages, as it always does where Manziel is concerned. Well-chronicled substance abuse and off-field issues cut his career after two seasons.
“I’m able to run back on the field, something I didn’t know if I’d ever get the chance to do again,” Manziel said Saturday night. “This is a huge step for me. I put pads back on. A lot of people wrote me off to even get to this point. So I’m definitely emotional about it, definitely happy about it. This isn’t the end goal for me, [but] I’m having fun again.”
Manziel, who finished eight of 16 for 79 yards, professed to being ticked off he couldn’t lead his South team to a victory after getting the ball back with two minutes to go. The North team won 11-7.
The best part of the TD pass to former Baylor receiver Antwan Goodley?
“It felt good to get hit that hard again,” Manziel said. “And it was a bonus that it was a touchdown.”
Manziel’s desire to show that he’s changed is what brought him here Saturday, far from the big show. But he had already raised eyebrows last week when he appeared to blame Cleveland in part for his lack of success in his two years there. He chatted with his publicist after the game Saturday before meeting with a large group of media.
He’d taken the field in front of a couple hundred fans at a high school football stadium on a frigid April day. He played alongside and against players without the notoriety but just like him desperate for an NFL team to see a glimmer of something worth investing in again.
Before Saturday, Manziel last played on Dec. 27, 2015, quarterbacking Cleveland during a 17-13 loss to Kansas City before 69,115 at Arrowhead Stadium.