When it comes to Johnny Manziel, everyone has an opinion — (some are better informed than others).
Here are what some of the best minds in American Football have had to say about Johnny Football.
Kevin Sumlin
On Johnny’s only drawback: “The ability for him to understand we’ve got 10 other guys on the field that can help him win the game. He doesn’t have to make every play himself.”
Nick Saban
“I think Johnny’s a unique player. I think when somebody’s as instinctive as [Manziel] is, and as fast as he is, and as athletic as he is, and he’s developing into a pretty good passer-I mean last year he really developed as a passer-I do think he has an NFL future.”
Nick Saban: “I like him a lot better in his coat and tie than I do on the football field.”
Nick Saban: “This guy is one of the greatest competitors in all the years I’ve coached, 40 years of coaching, that I’ve had the opportunity to play against. This guy does a fantastic job.”
Roger Staubach
On working with Johnny on Heisman House Commercials: “Well I’ll tell you, on the field he and I would be very similar. I’m as competitive as he is, but he’s a nice kid too. He works hard, he’s very competitive … so I think Johnny is going to get his chance in the NFL one day and he’s going to be a good quarterback. We just had a good time doing the commercial.”
On Advice to Johnny: “I told him on the field the thing is your teammates have to have confidence in you. And I said the most important thing you can do is make sure transfer your confidence to them because if they don’t have confidence in you, you’re not going to get the job done. It’s a team game, it’s a team effort. He is such a good player and he has confidence.”
Jon Gruden
To Johnny Jon Gruden’s Quarterback Camp”: “All the people that think you can’t read a defense, they can kiss my ass, right? Because I have seen you do it.”
Jon Gruden on the right team: “I really like Johnny Manziel as a person. He’s got a bright future. I think if he gets with the right coaches and the right system and can have some continuity around him, I think he’s gong to be a real blessing to some of these teams.”
Jon Gruden: “Johnny has a lot of magic to him. There’s not a more exciting college football player I’ve seen in the last few years.”
Jon Gruden on Manziel at “Jon Gruden’s Quarterback Camp”: “I had more fun with Manziel than I did most guys. I’d love to have him. It takes courage to pull the ball down and reverse field and do some of the crazy things that Favre and Manziel do. There’s going to be consequences when sometimes it doesn’t work out. But it takes a tremendous amount of guts and courage to go make a play when there’s nothing there instead of throwing the ball away.”
Jon Gruden: “He ran for 1,400 yards in the SEC. He’s got big hands and big feet and he’s got more guts than most guys have.”
Troy Aikman
“I’m a fan of his, and I’m really pulling for him. I had a chance to meet him at the Final Four, and I saw some of his workout from television. I wasn’t in Houston for the workout, but I think he’s got an opportunity to really have a special career, and I’ll be pulling for that to happen.”
Brett Favre
“I haven’t watched him much, but one game I watched, for like three quarters, was the Ole Miss game. I almost thought I was watching film of a young Brett Favre. I didn’t think I did a lot of things well [in college at Southern Miss], but he did. And and I liked the attitude of ‘whatever it takes’ — from that standpoint, I liked him. I didn’t throw near as well as him. He may have that capability — unbelievable throws and can makes plays with his feet. I was impressed.”
Mike Mayock
(NFL Network chief draft analyst: “He’s like a combination of Fran Tarkenton and Doug Flutie. He’s different than any quarterback I’ve (studied) before, but I believe in the kid.”
Barry Switzer
“He’s the best I’ve seen. I’ve never seen a quarterback in college football take control of a game like he does and put up the numbers he does. It’s fantastic what he’s done against good competition. Game after game after game the numbers he puts up are staggering, and when you watch him, you think he’s a running back. You can’t get to him, he’s quick, he has more quickness than he does speed. He’s elusive. You can’t touch him. … Strong arm. You watch him on film and tape and I’ve watched him enough — the guy is oblivious to the rush. He lets you think you’re going to touch him and then he disappears and he gets away from you and buys time. When a guy does that, guys are going to separate. I don’t care how good you are in pro football, you can’t cover for more than five seconds. Then they’re going to be free. And Johnny Manziel gets the ball to people. He’s the most dominant, most dynamic college quarterback I’ve ever seen.”
Joe Namath
“I do know this about Johnny Manziel: I haven’t seen anyone perform any better than Johnny the last two seasons on that football field. And I do know that we love entertainment. Football is a sport, but it is show biz. It is entertainment. And Johnny — he’s gotta live his life, man. Give the man a little bit of room. But, in his position, he’s not entitled to be a regular guy, 22 years old, 21 years old. Everything’s blowing out of whack. I’d love him on my team, let me just say that.”
Joe Namath: “I remember one time I made a mistake when I was 23. Wait a minute, it might have been more than one. I like him. I think he has talent to play in the NFL … I’m just pulling for him.”
Josh McCown
“I’m behind Johnny 100% and want nothing but the best for him.”
Jerry Jones
“He’s a proven winner (against) high competition.”
Aaron Glenn
(former Houston Texans cornerback, and defensive backs coach for the New Orleans Saints. Glenn was assistant DB coach for the Browns while Johnny Manziel was on the roster as a QB: “Outstanding. He had this—I don’t know what it is about him—the guys want to be around him. They want to practice for him. You’ve got to watch the offense—When he was in the huddle it was unbelievable. He was quiet. The thing is, when I say ‘competing’, this was one of the top guys you would see.”
Dan Reeves
(former NFL player and coach): “No question, I think he would be good for anybody. He’s still gotta learn to walk the walk and talk the talk … but if he can play like he did in college, I don’t see how that would be a bad addition to the team. I’d love to see him get that opportunity.”
Tim DeRuyter
(former Texas A&M defensive coordinator) DeRuyter aided with the discovery of Johnny Manziel in high school, and also coached Johnny as a redshirt Freshman. Ryan Tannehill was the starting QB, but Jameill Showers, Matt Joeckel and Johnny Manziel were waiting in the wings. Because of the talent ahead of him there was some discussion of employing Manziel as a Safety. From “Dallas News”
DeRuyter said: “I knew when he was our scout team quarterback he was pretty special as an athlete. I was kind of in the back of my mind, thinking ‘if he’s not going to be in the mix at quarterback I want him as a safety because he’s an athlete, as you can tell.’ He’s a competitive winner, which I loved.”
Manziel further caught DeRuyter’s attention as he played the role of the scout team quarterback as A&M prepared to take on Baylor’s flashy quarterback, Robert Griffin III.
DeRuyter: “I remember getting frustrated at our defense because we couldn’t tackle him (Manziel). (I was) yelling at our guys saying, ‘If you can’t tackle this little freshman, how in the world are we going to tackle RGIII?’”
“After the game our guys are like, ‘Coach, I’m telling you, that guy was harder to tackle during our week of practice than RGIII was.’ I think RGIII had about 50 yards against us running the football [he had 12 rushes for 15 yards]. Manziel probably had 600 during the week.”
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