Opinion

Johnny Manziel under the spotlight and microscope

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Joe Routt Boulevard, named for a Texas A&M All-American, runs within a Johnny Manziel spiral of Kyle Field, an asphalt path leading to one more nickname for Johnny Football: Joe Routt Johnny.

It's only fitting for the Aggies' version of Broadway Joe. In the time since Manziel, A&M's 200-pound bundle of energy, won the Heisman Trophy on Dec. 8, the Kerrville Tivy graduate embarked on a whirlwind tour that would leave Broadway Joe Namath — and rock singer Joe Walsh — jealous of his tales.

In 1978, Walsh crooned “Lucky I'm sane after all I've been through” in the song “Life's Been Good,” and 34 years later Manziel can relate. Two days after he won the Heisman in New York, Manziel read the top 10 list on the “Late Show with David Letterman.”

Moments later, raven-haired, premiere Hollywood actress Anne Hathaway gushed on Letterman's set, “How cute was he? Johnny Football is a star, man.” Hard to top, right? But Manziel proved back in September he was quite capable of taking his game to another level.

This frame grab of an Instagram page shows Johnny Manziel with LeBron James during one of his post-Heisman publicity tour events. This frame grab of an Instagram page shows Johnny Manziel with LeBron James during one of his post-Heisman publicity tour events. Photo: FRAME GRAB FROM INSTAGRAM Photo: FRAME GRAB FROM INSTAGRAM Image 1 of / 398 Caption Close Johnny Manziel under the spotlight and microscope 1 / 398 Back to Gallery

About a week later he was hobnobbing with another dark-haired starlet (notice a theme here?) in actress Megan Fox, a new mother to whom he presented a tiny 12th Man jersey on the set of the “Tonight Show with Jay Leno.” The quick-witted talk show host told Manziel he should fasten his Heisman to the hood of his car — but Manziel already is easily recognizable across the Lone Star State minus any ornament.

Proof came when Manziel, product of a prominent East Texas family that made its living in oil and real estate, took in a couple of Houston Rockets and Dallas Mavericks games last week and was featured on the big screen in his courtside seats.

During the Mavericks-Miami Heat game, TNT analyst Steve Kerr, a former Spur, questioned on air how Manziel came by such expensive seats considering he's merely a collegian.

“Bought myself a little birthday present tonight, stop hating,” Manziel fired back via Twitter.

Over the two nights of his NBA swing, Rockets star James Harden posted a picture via Twitter from inside the locker room with him and Manziel striking the Heisman pose.

A night later, the Heat's LeBron James also posted a photo alongside Manziel, dubbing the Aggies' quarterback a “cool dude” — high praise from King James, who looked like the giddy one in the photo.

In addition to the bright lights of NBA arenas, Manziel recently played a little fiddle onstage for the Randy Rogers Band, crooned with Kevin Fowler (among others) in Houston to “Beer, Bait and Ammo” and played golf with the Jonas Brothers on Christmas Eve.

Celebrity is nothing new for A&M quarterbacks, of course. What's different for this high-profile Aggie, however, is the combination of the Heisman and the rapid evolution of social media that allows us to see his every night on the town — whether he wants us to or not.

Manziel, who as of Thursday night had about 176,000 followers on Twitter, does a solid job on his own of keeping folks informed of his latest adventures. Or offering subtle clues that the Manziels have done quite nicely with or without notoriety (he and his sister's Rolex watches as Christmas gifts, for instance).

But then there are the pictures that pop up out of his control — the most notorious when he was dressed as Scooby Doo on Halloween in the Northgate bar district while enjoying the company of a scantily-clad blonde. Such instant intrusions on the college nightlife didn't exist when Kevin Murray or Bucky Richardson, famed quarterbacks of Aggies past, for instance, took Joe Routt Boulevard to University Drive to let off a little (or a lot of) steam after practice.

Manziel is A&M's second Heisman winner, and in 1957 running back John David Crow lugged his trophy to the airport in New York with no fanfare. Things have changed.

“I just cannot picture myself in Johnny's situation,” Crow said of the real-time fish bowl in which Manziel now swims.

And while Crow is proud of his fellow Heisman winner, there are critics, too, of Manziel's masquerades. He's already answered the naysayers who vowed he couldn't compete in the Southeastern Conference. His next job will be to quiet the doubters who believe he's suddenly more interested in being the Most Interesting Man in Aggieland than concerning himself with Oklahoma, the Aggies' opponent in a week at the Cotton Bowl in Arlington.

Of course, few would know about his fantastical journeys away from Joe Routt Boulevard were it not for the newfangled Internet, a constant reality modern athletes must simply learn to live and deal with.

“Johnny needs to remember how he got here, and I'm sure he will,” Crow said of Manziel's newfound fame. “Really, what's happened with Johnny has been absolutely amazing, and hopefully it will continue. Because if it continues, that means A&M is doing well.”

bzwerneman

@express-news.net