Everyone is experiencing some form of Johnny Manziel fatigue by this point in time. If you aren't, well then you are one hell of a trooper, my friend. Seriously, is there a facet of Manziel's story that we haven't seen yet? Off-season jet setting, frat parties, golf club throwing? Check, check, and check. Hot model girlfriend, NCAA investigations, a family history that's likely to blow your mind? Yep, all checks there too. This should not be shocking to anyone. Johnny Manziel has reached a level of stardom in collegiate sports that nobody has ever seen and may never see again. Johnny has certainly brought plenty of media attention on himself, Autograph Gate included. With so many media outlets writing about the same Johnny Football topics ad nauseum, sports fans are starting to voice their disinterest in hearing about the returning Heisman Trophy winner.

Early yesterday, the social media team at Texas Monthly revealed the cover of the September issue of the magazine. As you can imagine, there was no shortage of backlash as the image of Johnny Manziel as a superhero blasting off from Kyle Field circulated the internet. Within an hour of posting only the cover photo, the Texas Monthly Twitter account was accused of showing favoritism towards A&M (deliberate pause), putting a poor role model on a pedestal, and blindly jumping on the Manziel bandwagon. Naturally, you can imagine the majority of these comments were hip-fired towards Texas Monthly without reading Jake Silverstein's piece stating this decision was made back in December. Jake's insight into the thought process of the editorial team at Texas Monthly was refreshing. Shots are fired where they need to be fired and perspective is provided to force reflection. If this was an indication to what the entire article had in store for us, it definitely had my attention.

Thanks to the team over at Texas Monthly, we were able to get a look at the entire article (and artwork, which I'm a huge fan of, by the way) before the article is released online or hits magazine racks. The article, "Who is Johnny Football" by S.C. Gwynne is great. You can insert your own superlatives, but the article is simply great. It gives readers a look at the entire picture surrounding Manziel and his rise from Texas Hill Country legend to the biggest collegiate sports star in the world. We know about the temper and dark side. We know about the family. We all know about Mack Brown snubbing Manziel from playing QB, but was there another D1 coach who didn't think the reigning Heisman winner was worthy of an offer at all? What we haven't seen is the story being told in a way that ties everything together to paint a picture of Johnny Manziel for who he really is. Who is he? You'll have to read the article and form your own opinion. The 17 page article (including the artwork) is filled with anecdotes from coaches, players, and friends who have seen what makes Johnny the person and the athlete that he is; both the good and the bad. The official street date for the September issue is August 21st, but we'll tease you with this excerpt from Texas Monthly.

To many people, Manziel’s Heisman season seemed to come out of nowhere. These people, it must be said, did not live in the Hill Country or neighboring San Antonio near the end of the past decade. Those who did got their first look at Manziel’s abilities on the night of September 26, 2008, when the Fighting Antlers of Tivy High took on the Chargers of Boerne-Champion High. Manziel was a sophomore who had recently won the varsity quarterback job. The Chargers were undefeated, ranked fifth in the region, and had held their previous opponents to 13 points or less per game. To the amazement of the crowd, the slender, five-foot-ten-inch Manziel ripped through Boerne-Champion’s defense as though it did not exist. He threw for 232 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for another 143 yards in a 50–20 rout. In the third quarter he cut loose on a 69-yard touchdown run, only to have it called back by penalties that moved his team back 20 yards. On the next play he sprinted 89 yards for a touchdown.



