Mack Dalton

10/10/2014
Professor Bruner
English Section 001
An Offseason To Remember
Johnny Manziels 2012 Heisman campaign showed football fans across the
world that he was one of the most exciting new prospects in the nation. However,
Manziels 2012-2013 offseason proved that he was able to apply that same
excitement to his life off the field. Texas A & M came under much scrutiny by football
fans and even Paul and Michelle Manziel, Johnnys parents, for exploiting his
success. People were also quick to criticize the Aggie coaching staff for not giving
Manziel the correct tools to make better off-field decisions.
Those close to Johnny suggested the pressures of being Johnny Football and
the only freshman to ever win the Heisman trophy were to blame for his crazy offfield behavior during the 2012-2013 offseason. In an interview with ESPNs Wright
Thompson Paul, Manziel Explained, Its one night away from the phone ringing, and
hes in jail. And you know what hes gonna say? Its better than all the pressure Ive
been under. This is better than that, (Manziel quoted by Thompson). Although
Johnny did have multiple close calls with the law, he was able to keep it together, so
to speak and returned at the start of the 2013 season to be the starting Quarterback
for Texas A & M for his second season.

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Many close to Manziel expressed their concerns about his newfound wild
lifestyle; Paul Manziel stated, It could come unraveled. And when it does, its gonna
be bad, real bad (Manziel quoted by Thompson). In the same interview, Paul
Manziel expressed his displeasure with the job that Texas A & M had done of helping
Johnny to deal with certain pressures which came with winning his first Heisman.
After being spotted multiple times consuming alcohol in the offseason, as well as
being thrown out of the Manning-Passing Academy for intoxication, he began
attending alcohol and anger management classes. In an article about Manziels
possible alcohol problem, Jaime Uribarri, of NY Daily News, suggested he was an
anger prone youngster, whos turned to the bottle to deal with stress (Uribarri).

An even more significant question mark over the Heisman winner before his
sophomore season began was his NCAA eligibility. Following the BCS national
championship Manziel was photographed signing memorabilia allegedly in
exchange for a 5-figure sum. As a result many expect him to have to miss his second
season, however due to lack of evidence he was only banned for half of the Aggies
opener against Rice. Manziel justified his actions by stating, last time I checked
double digit win columns and championships are what matters (Manziel quoted by
Sallee) in reference to his freshman year at A & M. He also backed up his remarks by
having arguably a better 2013 season than he did in 2012.

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Due to Johnny Footballs off field antics before the 2013 college football
season, many predicted there would be a decrease in the quality of his on-field play.
However, he proved his critics wrong by having another strong season, narrowly
losing to Jameis Winston in the Heisman trophy race. This resulted in him going first
round in the 2014 draft to the Cleveland Browns. Although some argued his draft
stock was hurt by his lack of maturity off the field, it is difficult to question his
production on the field during the 2013 season and in fact, his career at Texas A &
M. Many football critics argue Johnny Manziels maturity is not up to scratch,
however the leadership he showed during his two years at Texas A & M make him
an elite quarterback and one to look out for in the coming years.

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My rhetorical goal when researching Johnny Manziels 2013 off season was to find out
the opinions of those close to Johnny as well as journalists who researched and followed
the story closely. Due to the high profile of the story it was relatively easy to find various
quotes and evidence of Johnnys actions.
I believe I was able to establish a clear point of the profile which focused mainly on
Manziels alcohol consumption and also the concern which those close to him had for his
physical and emotional well being through some career defining moments. I was happy
with the amount of quotes and evidence I used throughout the essay which helped
establish clearer points.
In order to improve my essay I should have perhaps included more evidence as to why
Johnny Manziel received so much criticism for his actions in his off-season by giving
other examples of instances where his actions fell under criticism. By doing this I may
have been able to establish a dominant impression.
Finally, I was happy with my profile essay, I gave evidence which was relevant and
helped establish the topic which I chose. I feel like my time management was better than
it has been on previous assignments which helped me to complete the assignment to my
full potential. Although I may have been able to talk about a wider range of events which
occurred during Manziels offseason, I am pleased with my quality of work for this
assignment.

Citations
Sallee, Barrett. "Reliving Manziel's Crazy Offseason." Bleacher Report. 31
July 2013. Web. 24 Oct. 2014.

Thompson, Wright. "The Trouble With Johnny." ESPN. ESPN Internet

Ventures, 30 July 2013. Web. 22 Oct. 2014.

Uribarri, Jaime. "Texas A&Ms Johnny Manziel Sought Counseling

For alcohol Abuse and Anger Issues: Report ." NY Daily News. N.p.,
30 July 2013. Web. 24 Oct. 2014.