Posted on 05/09/2014 7:45:52 PM PDT by BenLurkin
But what happens after the fall? When, to paraphrase John Facenda, the game becomes a duel in the rain and cold November mud? When the wind whips in from Lake Erie, and the monstrous arms of Big Ben and Joe Flacco fling the ball through the ornery winter snow? While Johnny Manziel falls face-first into the muck, crunched by Geno Atkins or Brett Keisel?
Brian Hoyer is getting the cosmetic decency of the starting job in May. But anyone with a pulse knows you draft Johnny Manziel to start Johnny Manziel. He’s too famous, too fabulous, to squat on the pine. Especially in Cleveland, a town that lost its soul when LeBron James took his talents to South Beach, and hasn’t won an NFL title since 1964.
That’s not to say he can’t play or play well. No player has ever burst into the NFL with more moxie and celebrity than Manziel, who also enters the league with the best handle in history: Johnny Football.
...
Many of us wanted to see Manziel plucked by the Dallas Cowboys, the sport’s most famous and dysfunctional team and the draft’s most compelling figure. Jerry Jones, who adores the spotlight, actually drafted by need. Go figure.
Cleveland has needs, too. They need a lot more than Johnny Manziel. Do they even need Johnny Manziel? Can a team build from the ground-up with a player people expect to walk on water?
Johnny Football is a long way from Texas. But for the first time in a long time, the Browns matter. They’ve already sold 1,200 season tickets since last night. They’re all there to see Johnny Manziel win. Will they stick around if he loses?
(Excerpt) Read more at losangeles.cbslocal.com ...
With the history the Browns have with QBs, I hope he rents a short lease apartment.
Whatever happened to that homosexual boy who was in the draft? There was much ado being made of it in the sports press. Apparently he was primed to make quite the fashion statement. Did anybody pick him?
Tries to watch sports center and it was all Manziel, seriously they seemed insane. Dallas dissed him? He is the Browns savior? Why talk about this guy and not all of those better players picked up before him?
Reminds me of the old golf coverage being Tiger Woods, even when he was last place or all NASCAR coverage being about Danica Patrick, who I doubt has even come close to winning a single race.
It is extremely annoying that they choose one person to hype that way, and it makes me hope Manziel turns out to be a major dud
Ryan Leaf is hoping for the same outcome!
Funny that two other players from A&M were drafted ahead of him.
They are still working on the third round with four to go. Homo boy will get picked near last, if at all.
Several weeks ago Johnny Football shot a 79 at Pebble Beach!
I live in the area and can relate. If the Browns would allow a QB to stay long enough to help build a culture, I think they would have a chance. However, if a coach or QB doesn’t win a super bowel in one or two seasons ... they are gone.
The only crap coach they hung onto, even though he was a loser as head coach, was Romeo Crennel and only because he was black. Didn’t want to give the locals an excuse to bitch, moan and complain.
It is almost like the owners really don’t want a winning team.
LOL! "Homo boy"! That last line drew a chuckle out of me!
It remains to be written if he can leave the league with an enduring handle like "Broadway Joe"
Agree with you about sports center, but just because someone is picked earlier doesn’t mean he is better than someone picked later. Russell Wilson was third round, Kaepernick was second, and Brady wasn’t even drafted (as I recall). They are clearly better than all or almost all who were drafted ahead of them. Who gets picked when depends in large part on what a team needs. Sometimes choices are simply bizarre, like SF’s choice in the first round. Bortles went no. three, but other than height and weight his stats from playing in a weak conference were nowhere as good as Manziel’s. The Jag’s probably thought that Bortles would help sell teickets as a “hometown” boy, and it may workout that way, but there is no evidence that he will perform as well as Manziel. I think Manziel may be the best athlete in the draft, but I don’t mean that he is necessarily the best football player. If you’ve watched him you’ll see a leader, a competitor, a great arm, speed, and an almost supernatural sense of what will happen next on the field and how to get out of jams. He is exciting. Whether he succeeds depends a lot on the Browns’ system, the quality of the coaches, whether he has anyone good to throw to, whether the line can protect him, etc. Manziel is a lot like Wilson, but with better athleticism. He may do better than people expect if the Browns are at all a good fit. I also think Bortles and Carr will be pretty good. A.J. McCarron could also be a surprise.
For a long time I suspected that the Tribe was run so badly because the string of various owners were using it as a tax write-off.
I fear (and am speaking as someone who has rooted for the Browns for half a century) that before Manziel’s first season is over he will have SREELETS or SNEVAR permanently stenciled on this chest.
Or maybe both.
No, no ... like the Cubs, I think the tribe stadium is built on old Indian burial ground, that’s why they can’t win. LOL
The offensive line is that bad?
Was not like Delhomme was a lousy QB when he had a decent team. Seem to recall he was a few plays from winning a Superbowl if the clock had not run out.
He’s not a pocket QB.
I’m afraid that Johnny is going to take a huge hit some day if he zigs when he should have zagged.
It’s the NFL. Every player is big, fast, and football savvy. Especially in the AFC North.
The answer to whether he can take a hit will probably be answered faster in his new division than any other...
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