Cheap Seats opinions on the Manziel issue?

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Carthaginian
Carthaginian Members Posts: 1,409 ✭✭✭✭✭
in From the Cheap Seats
If it actually is an issue at all...check out this story:

http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/_/id/9521439/heisman-winner-johnny-manziel-celebrity-derail-texas-aggies-season-espn-magazine
THE MORE FAMOUS Johnny gets, the more he becomes a mystery to his parents.

"I really don't know what makes him tick," Paul says.

This spring Johnny flew to Toronto for the weekend to hang out with Drake and his crew. His mom panicked when she heard, sure that the last thing her son needed was a rapper, who certainly would fill Johnny's head with terrible ideas. She said she felt sick to her stomach. Instead, Johnny came back visibly lighter, with new clues on how to handle his growing fame. She said a prayer afterward, thanking ? for knowing what her son needed more than she or Paul did. She also mourned a little because her baby had more in common with international superstar musicians than with his mom and dad. Michelle's friends keep trying to tell her an uncomfortable truth: "Nothing will ever be the same."

They're concerned. Paul thinks Johnny drinks to deal with the stress. After his arrest, Johnny's parents and Sumlin mandated he visit an alcohol counselor; Johnny saw him six or seven weeks during the season. About the only place they still see the real him is on the football field. Mostly what they see is the emotional byproduct of whatever is chewing him up inside. "I don't know where the anger comes from," Paul says. "I don't think he knows. If it comes from his drinking, or if he's mad at himself for not being a better person when he fails, when he fails ? and his mom and me. If it makes him angry that he's got demons in him. You can only speculate because you can't go in there."

Something's different. That much they know. A few years ago, Michelle sat on a beach with her children in California and they all agreed that tattoos didn't correspond with Texas values. She cried when she found out this offseason that Johnny had gotten inked. Had he changed? After a workout, he tried to show her his tattoo of a Bible quote from Proverbs, but she refused to look. At dinner one night this summer, she brought up Miley Cyrus and Justin Bieber and how they've come undone in public. They're chasing something, but she can't for the life of her figure out what that might be, which is frightening. Is her son chasing it too?

Both his parents believe he won't return for another season in College Station, and until he leaves, they can give love and support and pray that Johnny Football doesn't completely devour Johnathan Manziel.

"Yeah," Paul says one evening, driving in his car, "it could come unraveled. And when it does, it's gonna be bad. Real bad."

He imagines a late-night call, and the cable news ticker, and the next morning's headlines.

"It's one night away from the phone ringing," he says, "and he's in jail. And you know what he's gonna say? 'It's better than all the pressure I've been under. This is better than that.'"

Just the entire snippet of an interesting article about the guy. There have been numerous reports of him drinking "under-age" and partying and whatnot.

Obviously most of you know the situation with him being kicked out of a Texas U Frat party.

My personal opinion lies between the two extremes of "He's a 20 year old college kid.Whatever." and "He won the Heisman, he should live his life like Saint Peter!" It's that I believe that yeah, he's a young guy, he's entitled to enjoy his life, but at the same time, whether he likes it or not, being the Quarterback of a major SEC contender does come with certain responsibilities. You're really not a normal 20 year old anymore (case in point, normal 20 year old dudes don't have women screaming their name everywhere they go) So there's a certain responsibility that comes with that.

What are your personal opinions? Do you feel as though he's slowly throwing away his life/chance at the NFL because of these little incidents?
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