Oh, when the saints go marching in 
Oh, when the saints go marching in
Oh how I want to be in that number
When the saints go marching in.

What a wonderful world …

How ironic is it that Louis Armstrong, one of New Orleans’ most exciting jazz players, took a famous gospel tune about Saints and turned it into a massive jazz hit in 1938.  About a year after Johnny Manziel’s great-grandparents were married in Baton Rouge in 1937.

Nearly 80 years later, there has been a lot of talk about whether NOLA holds promise for another exciting NFL player — Johnny Manziel.

Most fans would like to keep Manziel as close to home as possible, but for now here’s what we know.

 

Texas Transitions …

The Cowboys are kicking some serious NFL butt with Dak Prescott at the helm. Tony Romo is out, but who is in as backup? And  where will Tony go?  The Romo story is one of the biggest unanswered questions in the NFL at this moment.

As much as JFF fans dream of Johnny wearing the blue and white, and as much as Jerry Jones seems to admire what Manziel brings to the table, the timing has not seemed to work out in Dallas so far. Kind of disappointing, but let’s not fix what is clearly not
broken.  Dak is young and hopefully he can stay healthy, so a backup QB job in the metroplex would probably not be the best solution for Manziel.

A Tale of Two Franchises

Meanwhile, the Houston Texans had their chance, and blew it in 2014. Although they have done better in recent years, their personnel choices seem woefully reminiscent of the Cleveland Browns. #BrownsJr

Let’s truly talk Houston Texans for a sec … Both Houston and Cleveland are cities that lost their NFL teams only to make an attempt at franchise redemption. But both have struggled to find their footing again. The Browns are notorious for the numerous quarterbacks they have blown through, however the Texans have gone through even more quarterbacks than the Browns! Came across this little statistic the other day … “since 2014 the Houston Texans have had eight different starting quarterbacks — even more than the Cleveland Browns who started seven during that same three season timeframe.” Wow. No thanks. #BrownsJrJr

And do we even want to get into the ‘Osweiler to the Browns’ trade? Or how about that disastrous Hoyer-ible to the Texans move.  And don’t look now Margaret, but this just came out  … Poor Tim.

Sometimes it seems like neither franchise will ever learn. Thank goodness Manziel was spared/liberated from working for either team. #FritoDorito

 

Anyway, Back to Johnny …

So, outside of Texas, what other teams would make a great fit for an insanely talented quarterback who already has some valuable NFL experience under his belt? Everyone has their opinions, but the most important thing is for Manziel to land at a team that provides a great fit, with a great coach … one who will understand how to mentor Manziel and bring him up in the NFL.

 

And the Saints Come Marching In … 

One of the first teams which comes to mind is the New Orleans Saints. According to Ian Rappaport, there may be an interest in bringing Manziel to the Crescent city.

Rappaport released a series of tweets earlier that revealed Manziel had been seeing dining with Sean Payton in Houston prior to the Super Bowl.

DJMAC …

Yes, yes … we know you’re not a Saints fan … or maybe you are, but at least they have won a Super Bowl in recent memory! Which is more than we can say for the Cowboys, the Texans, the Browns, and quite a few other teams (not named the Patriots). And the Saints have one of the most amazing quarterbacks of all time in Drew Brees, who also happens to be a Texan — A Texan who has had a lot of nice things to say about Manziel in the past.

“He is a heckuva player. He’s fun to watch. He makes all kinds of plays,” Brees said, and if anyone is qualified to speak on unique QB talent in the NFL it’s certainly future Hall-of-Famer, Drew Brees.

Drew Brees even went on to compare Manziel to Russell Wilson. “He’s got all the playmaking ability to be a great player. [There are] guys like [Manziel] in this league. Russell Wilson and his ability to run the football and extend plays outside the pocket and throw the ball down the field. Intermediate [routes], I mean he can do it all.”

Drew Brees made no bones about his belief in Manziel’s ability to succeed in the NFL, if given the right opportunity. And the Drew/Johnny mutual admiration club didn’t end there.

Manziel has thought of Brees as a hero since his school days, and said, “I grew up in high school and in college watching this guy.” The two Texans attended rival high schools situated about 100 miles apart.  Manziel was just completing high school as Drew was scoring a colossal win over  Peyton Manning and the Colts in Super Bowl XLIV. “He’s the staple of guys my size in the NFL,” Manziel has said.

Payton Forward … 

Saints head coach Sean Payton definitely appreciates Texas talent. Payton had plenty to say about Manziel prior to the ’14 draft at the annual league meeting.

Payton detailed several reasons that Manziel would be a great fit for a team like the Saints. “No. 1, he’s a winner — you can see that. He’s elevated the hopes of that program,” Payton said during a video interview on NewOrleansSaints.com, the official Saints’ website.

Payton went on to analyze how some of Manziel’s strengths would be an advantage in the NFL, “Running to the left and turning — certainly some of those throws are going to be challenging at our level. He gets rid of the ball very quickly. He can get rid of the ball in some unique throwing positions we haven’t seen in a long time.”

In a city known for exciting players, Manziel is sure to fit right in.  Whether it’s jazz or football, New Orleans hosts a unique southern charm layered over the city like a beautiful, well-worn patina. The quirky but loyal Saints’ fan base is infinitely more classy and gracious than most anything the beleaguered and overtly rabid dawg pound had to offer.

New Orleans and her devoted fan base know what it is like to rebuild from the ground up and they know a lot more about redemption than most cities.  A great city deserves great talent, and Manziel delivers on Texas-sized athleticism and then some.

Fateful Trivia and Family Ties …

In an amazing stroke of fate, both Johnny Manziel and his fiancée, Bre Tiesi, appear to have age-old ties to Louisiana.  Are johnny and Bre destined to be newlyweds in the hometown of their ancestors?

It seems that some of both Johnny and Bre’s families passed through Southern Louisiana in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s.  Some of their ancestors had recently immigrated and yet others had resided in Louisiana for generations. Even more ironic, Johnny and Bre both have at least one great-grandparent born in New Orleans. According to census records it appears that at one point Johnny had a set of great great grandparents who were recorded as living in the Arts District, just south of the French Quarter in downtown New Orleans. So Johnny had ancestors living in New Orleans very near the same time that Bre had an ancestor living there. #Kismet

Could Manziel be the catalyst to help bring a Super Bowl win back to New Orleans Saints?  Will the Saints come marching home?

Sean Payton seems to think Manziel might just do the trick. “I think he’s a winner and an exciting player.”

—

We do too Sean!  “What a wonderful world” indeed!

#KeepTheFaith
#JFF
#Johnny
#JManziel2
#TXlovesJFF
#JManFans
#NFL
#Aggies
#GigEm
#TFND
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#DrewBrees
#SeanPayton

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Pass it back y’all and show Johnny that we have his six! 👍