re: JFF & Gronk: The World Will Never be the Same

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rtr14

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Where the frick did you come from?

I'm just tired of hearing about "Johnny Football this" or "JFF that" or "Johnny had pizza for breakfast and broke up with his GF by lunch".I swear if the news isn't trying to force that little douche Justine Beiber, it's another meaninglessness story about Johnny Manziel.

There, rant over.

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The guy is extremely smart, he is an academic junior at A&M's prestigious B School and apparently is carrying a high GPA. He has family money and parents that raised him right and are making sure he is being careful. If his parents aren't with him he always has a shadow, typically a highly responsible Sr on the Football team.

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Good post. I like the way he plays and I agree with you that JM has a great attitude on the field, which is becoming more and more rare, so I respect him for that.

But the last part of that quote is what would worry me as an Ag fan. Even if everything JM is doing is clean, and I honestly don't care either way, the teammates tagging along as his entourage better be paying their own way too and not getting a benefit from mom and pop Manziel.

Remember the fuss at USC with Dwayne Jarrett supposedly not paying rent while sharing an apartment with Matt Leinart?

If JM can do all this stuff, good for him. But the others better be paying their own way too, or the NCAA will get involved.

And you're kidding yourselves if you don't agree that you'd feel differently if it was AJ or Mett getting this kind of attention.

I know JM comes from a different background than a lot of other CFB stars, but Matt Leinart was a Heisman winner living in LA and never had anywhere near this type of social exposure.

JM needs to enjoy himself, but maybe a little more carefully. I know he's a college kid, but celebrities give up aspects of their freedom all the time because of the attention they draw.

It's a Catch 22 in a way. They gain the ABILITY to do things and go places many others couldn't, but sometimes choose not to to avoid negative publicity or attention.

It's a fine line, and JM still clearly needs to figure it out.

This thread made my morning. So much jealousy of a 20 year-old kid.

Perspective, people. Perspective.

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I don't have to wish for something LSU has already done.

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Context. You lack it.

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Context. You lack it.

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truth hurts

And he'll struggle in TS next year, as well. But continue on with JFF.

I mostly lurk but gotta say this: Wow! So many butthurt soothsayers predicting his demise. This thread has made my day!!!!!! Thanks for the laughs. Keep hatin'. Hope he gets under your skin even more!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Aggie fans are on cloud nine right now but you also have to have open eyes when it comes to petty things the NCAA considers an infraction.

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And what y'all have to realize is A&M has been slapped around by the NCAA in the past and isn't making those mistakes again despite how some desperately want us to

If JFF had a lower profile that would be fine as he does attract attention. He's just a different guy though. Over and over it has been beaten down how he checks with compliance before he ties his shoes and he either has his parents or a highly responsible upperclassman teammate with him and yet folks ignore it.

A&M knows all about the NCAA and compliance. We learned the hard way too many times and had to learn to be extra careful because for many years our friends in Austin actually had the head of the Infractions Committee. After '94 we went extreme in building a compliance department that not only made sure we weren't doing anything improper but is outstanding at educating and informing our players on what they can and cannot do. Thus we haven't had a blip of NCAA problems since then.

What loses me is when folks compare JFF to Honey Badger or similar players. Honey Badger came from a very broken home with no money and with a Dad in prison and a ton of hanger on buddies that were trying to mooch off of him. Manziel is the complete opposite other than he is bound to have some friends who may have ill intent as that is hard to avoid, fortunately he has enough smart people around him to protect him.

The best thing that ever happened to Johnny was getting busted last year for the fake driver's license. It scared the crap out of him and he has spoken about it before. He saw how he almost lost everything by being stupid and careless. I don't expect him to make the same mistake again. It could happen of course but it's not something I think is likely.

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What loses me is when folks compare JFF to Honey Badger or similar players. Honey Badger came from a very broken home with no money and with a Dad in prison and a ton of hanger on buddies that were trying to mooch off of him. Manziel is the complete opposite other than he is bound to have some friends who may have ill intent as that is hard to avoid, fortunately he has enough smart people around him to protect him.

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Pretty sure he was adopted by his aunt and uncle at a young age (around 5 or so?). I want to say I read a post a while back by LSUfreek or someone on the Tiger Rant that works with his aunt, who's a nurse. For all intents and purposes, the aunt and uncle provided a stable home environment once Mathieu came to reside with them. I don't believe he was some poor abandoned child growing up in the projects

Like JFF, Mathieu got caught up in the hype and made some really dumb decisions.