ComebackSZN Ran Through College Station Today and Here's What I Was Told About It

As Hubbs pointed out earlier, Johnny Manziel threw today at A&M’s Pro Day. It’s been four years since Johnny had his first Pro Day in College Station. I think it was actually called Johnny Day, for real. I was there covering the SEC. As you can imagine, the place was HYPED. Even former President George H.W. Bush and his wife Barbara sat in a golf cart with their dogs to watch the Heisman winner. Uncensored music was blasted over the speaker system (first and last time I witnessed that and I’ve been to a million pro days). It was an absolute circus.

The hype is a little different this time around. This time, Johnny is trying to prove he deserves another chance to play in the NFL (and for the record, I think he does.) He went back to his roots today, where the celebrity and legend of Johnny Football was born. It is #ComebackSZN after all.

I’m 1646 miles away, but I can tell you that according to people spending their Tuesday in Aggieland… Johnny looked good.

A couple of scouts told me that Johnny almost looked better than expected. He threw well and his accuracy was legit. He looked a little tired by the end of the workout, but did whatever was asked of him. But what was most impressive was his demeanor. He carried himself like he knows he has something to prove. He missed a few throws and looked visibly frustrated. Sure it’s just pro day, but that’s just how much it matters to him. One scout told me he walked away thinking that Johnny probably deserves to be on an NFL roster.

TBD if that will happen. But for what it’s worth, the reviews from today were positive.

Of course, the anti-Manziel crowd will say that it would be impossible to look bad in this setting, which may be true. But the fact that all 32 teams were there to watch this means there could be legit interest.

NFL guys including Mike Evans, Jameis Winston and Myles Garrett were also in attendance to watch Johnny throw to (mainly) Christian Kirk – a dynamic receiver and returner on special teams. By the way, Kirk is legit first-round pick. I think he’ll be a solid weapon at the next level because of the pass-focused nature of pro offenses. But I digress.

Cue Calvin Harris and Rihanna. This is what you came for:

Look, I’m not going to make excuses for Johnny. He messed up really badly. He knows it. He admitted it. But I’m all for second-chances (and yes, that includes almost everybody.) I can’t imagine how I would’ve handled going from being pretty much unknown outside of state of Texas to the cover of TIME magazine in about 6 months. AT 20 YEARS OLD.

We all know how awesome he was in college. No matter who you rooted for or against, you watched the electricity that was Johnny Football.

But what we don’t know is how he would truly look under center at the next level. Does his style of play translate to the NFL? Can he be successful when he doesn’t have the capability to just take off and run like he did so many times in college? Can he stay on this path to redemption and be the quarterback we saw in maroon and white? We don’t know those answers. But I think we may be about to find out. Even if #ComebackSZN runs through Canada.

PS (and this is mostly for Pres and Big Cat):  Johnny wears his Aggie ring too. Boom.