Johnny Manziel might not be making any friends amongst the critics or fellow college football players, but a few NFL players are speaking out in support of the quarterback. The Texas A&M Heisman winner had an offseason filled with controversy, NCAA investigations and Twitter drama. He followed that up with an even more controversial return in the team's season opener. One person speaking out in favor of Manziel is Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco.
The Super Bowl winning quarterback is a growing Texas A&M fan thanks to Manziel. Flacco was certainly a star at Delaware and certainly never had to deal with the kind of scrutiny that Manziel has faced throughout the offseason. However, the Ravens star knows what it is like to not have the critics speaking out in his favor. Flacco spent almost all of last season being mocked after he referred to himself as the NFL's best quarterback.
"I don't know if I'll be too popular for this," Flacco said, via ESPN.com. "But I don't know how I really felt about Johnny Manziel, but I feel like now everyone hates him. He's quickly becoming my favorite player in college football."
Manziel needs people in his corner after being a permanent fixture in the headlines for being spotted sitting courtside at NBA games and hanging out with big-time musicians. He was dismissed early from the Manning passing camp for supposedly showing up late to practice after partying. He also faced an NCAA investigation for reportedly accepting benefits for autography signings which earned him a suspension in the first half of Texas A&M's season opener.
Manziel sat for the entire first half against Rice, remaining very quiet on the sidelines. However, his return in the second half was anything but silent. While the quarterback put on a solid performance playing wise, his terrible behavior is clouding any big numbers he put up.
Manziel drew a penalty in the third quarter after making an autograph gesture to a Rice defender, throwing some trash talking his opponents way. He also made money-counting gestures after his touchdown passes. The behavior saw the quarterback getting benched and scolded by head coach Kevin Sumlin.
"Foolish penalty," he called it. "No matter what the comments are, he's going to face that every week with people chirping. That's not OK, and obviously I addressed that on the sideline after it happened."
Sure, Manziel showed no signs of poor play in his return. Clearly all of his offseason drama did not hurt his football skills. However, when it comes time for the quarterback to enter into the NFL, teams will be paying attention to all this non-football drama and put it into consideration.
