Sports. Honestly. Since 2011

Johnny Manziel and the Importance of Football Character

As I enter into my seventh year of evaluating NFL Drafts prospects, and my second for Last Word on Sports, I’m reminded of one of the most important traits to look for in NFL prospects. What sparked this reminder is the Johnny Manziel saga, which has further unraveled over the following month. And what I am reminded of is the importance of having good football character.

So what is football character exactly? It has nothing to do with how a player does in the classroom, or on the Wonderlic test, or even how often he is booked in the city police department. In fact, many players fail or succeed despite what the aforementioned traits indicate. Western Michigan’s Tim Hiller was a 4.0 student, but never latched on as an NFL quarterback. Greg McElroy scored a 43 on the Wonderlic, the second-highest of any QB, yet has already retired after appearing in just two games.

However, one of the NFL’s most famous bad boys, Lawrence Taylor, managed to become one of the best linebackers to ever play the game, despite constant off-field troubles. The reason Taylor overcame those troubles is that he possessed outstanding football character to do what he needed to be the dominant player that he was. In short, football character is how a player conducts himself on the field and in preparation for taking the field, and all of the mental and psychological nuances which are entailed.

Which brings us to Johnny Manziel, a player who is infamous for his lack of football character. Manziel included, the NFL has witnessed its fair share of quarterbacks who have come into the league with big expectations who came from an elitist background. The most recent name to come to mind is former Notre Dame QB and Carolina Panther draftee Jimmy Clausen. Clausen came from a well-to-do family that paid and finagled its way to get the best scenario for their youngest son, which included being held back in junior high school and even hiring a professional QB coach to tutor Clausen before he started high school.

Like Manziel, Clausen was considered to be an arrogant and entitled individual, who saw his stock fall on draft night. Needless to say Clausen’s career did not pan out, and it would come as no surprise that the attitude which caused his draft stock to tumble was the same that led to his lack of success in the NFL.

Manziel also comes from a wealthy and enabling family, and while there is nothing inherently wrong with that, it has certainly contributed to the sense of entitlement and puerility which characterizes Johnny Football. There was the petulant tweet about wanting to leave Texas A&M before the 2013 season had even begun. There was the autograph infraction which surprisingly only resulted in a two quarter suspension from the season-opener. There was the unsportsmanlike conduct penalty against Rice for taunting. And now we have the daily update on the tensions between Manziel, his teammates, and the Browns front office over his off the field behavior. All of which contribute to his being branded as a player with poor football character.

While generally only people on the inside are familiar enough with a player’s football character to make a definitive evaluation of it, the Manziel saga has played itself out so publicly, that it’s actually hard to ignore. Manziel has shown a willingness to jeopardize team success in favor of satisfying his own whims, demonstrating a disturbing amount of impulsiveness, conceit, and petulance.

“I’m not going to change for anybody,” was Manziel’s statement last Friday, following the comments of teammate Terrance West, and even Browns owner Jimmy Haslam. West had stated that “we’re here to play football and it’s all about all of his off-the-field stuff, so it’s a distraction.” Haslam was also reportedly fed up with Manziel’s antics on social media.

Manziel has also dubbed himself “unique and different,” claiming that “people want to record what I’m doing because they think it’s a story.” Because no one would ever record Tom Brady or Peyton Manning if they showed up at a club. It’s not that Manziel is such a unique figure in the NFL that everyone wants to capture what he’s doing; it’s that Manziel is such a unique figure because he acts like a complete fool, and that’s why everyone wants to capture what he’s doing. Unfortunately for Manziel, he fails to recognize this distinction. If Tom Brady was pretending to talk into a stack of cash at a club, he would be getting the same kind of backlash as Manziel. However, Brady does not because he knows how to keep his off the field behavior from impacting his professional life. In other words, he has good football character.

Monday, Brady was quoted as saying “I think we really had our vacation. I think that part’s over.” Meanwhile, Manziel continues partying. Manziel can claim that he is committed and is doing everything he needs to, and still able to go gallivanting about on the weekends, but those two things absolutely contradict one another. Every hour that Manziel spends in Vegas, or at a club, or doing anything other than learning the Browns playbook and terminology is not only a wasted hour, but it is another hour that he is falling behind those who actually know how to be professionals, and get the best out of their talent. Manziel wants to be the starter by week one of the NFL season, but that’s going to become an unattainable goal if he continues to neglect football on weekends.

If Manziel does not clean up his act, it will be a short tenure in the NFL for him. Without a higher level of football character, his teammates will not trust him and put everything on the line for him; without a higher level of football character, his coaches will not trust him to be a starting quarterback in the NFL; and without a higher level of football character, the front office will not waste another contract on a player they can’t trust. Already the Browns are reportedly interested in locking up Brian Hoyer with an extension, which is the omen Manziel must heed if he expects to ever be the player many envisioned him being.

Inside next week’s War Room: 2014 NFL Supplemental Draft Preview

 

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