Manziel needs to become more than spectacle in order to fit
Johnny Manziel hadn’t yet spoken a word Monday afternoon at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium, hadn’t dis- cussed how he got lost or how he found himself in Memphis, hadn’t even mentioned how confident he is that the skills that made him Johnny Football are still there, when the tone of his first press conference with the Memphis Express was set.
“We’re going to keep it short with
Johnny,” one of the team’s public relations officials said to the cameras and microphones assembled for Manziel’s initial appearance as a member of the Express. “He’s got an engagement with the Boys and Girls Club that we’ve got to take him to.”
If you believe in comebacks, if you believe everyone deserves another chance no matter how many chances they’ve already gotten, if you believe football can save someone from their personal demons, then Manziel’s arrival on the Memphis professional football scene is right up your alley.
Because that’s the story he and the Express are selling, and they sold it well Tuesday.
Manziel said all the right things about re-discovering his passion for the game, about his desire to ultimately return to the NFL one day, about coming to terms with the mistakes he made.
But for this to really work, for this to become the “amazing story” coach Mike Singletary admitted it would be if Manziel were to resurrect his career in Memphis, for this to establish the Express in the market and be more than a temporary infatuation, there needs to be something beyond the inevitable spectacle and circus that will accompany Manziel’s debut.
And not the kind Manziel has been known to fancy over the years.
This can't be like when he said all the right things after he got in trouble at Texas A&M, or like when he said all the right things after he got drafted by the Cleveland Browns, or like when he said all the right things after he signed with the Canadian Football League.
He has to mean the things he said Tuesday. He has to be a football player, not a sideshow.
"I’ve done a lot of soul searching and a lot of looking at myself in the mirror and coming to the realization that when I’m on the football field and when I’m on a team, my life is substantially better," Manziel said at one point.
"I got immersed and lost in a bunch of things that only gave me temporary happiness," he added later, "and this game and what it’s done for me has kept joy in my life and made me abundantly happy."
"I’ve just changed the way that I used to live life and that’s why I started focusing on things that I really care about," Manziel said to close his press conference. "My family, my football and trying to better my life and have a routine that makes things work and not things break like they did a couple years ago."
Just like everywhere else he's played, the charisma, chaos and undeniable electricity that follows Manziel will be something to behold, and they could be here as early as Sunday when the Express play their next game at the Liberty Bowl.
Nobody is ruling out that he might play just a week after signing with the Alliance of American Football.
Not when Manziel declared a return to the NFL is "absolutely" his goal and, "I still have a unique skill set and still have the ability to play at any level anywhere.”
Not when coach Mike Singletary said he came away from their first conversation together thinking, "There’s something there. There’s something very special there.”
Not when the team has already seen “a spike” in ticket sales, according to Memphis Express president Kosha Irby.
Not when a road game at San Antonio next month experienced the same surge once news of Manziel’s signing became official.
Not when folks from Kentucky and Mississippi are buying tickets, and the local Texas A&M alumni group is inquiring about them, too.
It’s exactly the jolt the Express needed after an inauspicious start, both on the field and in the stands. There's a lot at stake here for the franchise. The attention it's receiving due to Manziel might be the best chance to cultivate a sustainable fan base.
That so much of this hinges on Manziel is both terrifying and tremendous.
Because if you listened to his words Tuesday afternoon, if you forgot for a moment that his track record suggests he won't live up to them, this felt like a story worth investing in.
While Manziel wouldn't address why he got booted from the CFL for violating the terms of his contract — only reiterating that he was thankful for his experience north of the border — he didn't hide from his well-documented past.
And he seems to have a coach in Singletary who wants him to succeed, who wants this challenge, who said his newest quarterback just wants "to get back to being Johnny Manziel, whatever that was, and whoever that was."
Who described his first reaction to potentially getting Manziel like this:
“My reaction was I hope that he has a chance to come here," Singletary said, "because any opportunity that I have to work with anyone that’s been, for whatever reason, taken a step back in life and trying to figure out how to get it right and want to get it right, I want to be around people like that. To me, that’s what life is about. Getting back up again.”
And in case you didn't believe him or believe in this reclamation project yet: As Manziel walked out of the room, an Express PR official reminded everyone.
“He's got an engagement at the Boys and Girls Club that he’s headed off to now."
You can reach Commercial Appeal columnist Mark Giannotto via email at mgiannotto@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter: @mgiannotto