New England Patriots: Why team should give Johnny Football a chance
By Sam Minton
The New England Patriots are in need of a quarterback to replace Tom Brady when he retires. Could Johnny Football be that guy?
Johnny Manziel has been out of the NFL for two years now. He was never able to succeed during his time with the Cleveland Browns. Still, Manziel may be a great fit for the New England Patriots.
There wasn’t a hotter quarterback prospect heading into the 2014 NFL Draft than Johnny Football. Manziel won the Heisman Trophy as a Freshman, and that may not have even been his best season at Texas A&M. In his Sophomore season, Manziel threw for over 4,100 yards and 37 touchdowns and added almost 800 yards rushing and 9 rushing touchdowns.
When Manziel got to the NFL he didn’t get the same results. In 14 games Manziel threw for 1,675 yards, 7 touchdowns, and 7 interceptions. He also had difficulties holding on to the ball fumbling 7 times.
Then there were the off-field problems. Manziel seemed to be a party animal. He was out clubbing a lot and that’s not the best thing to do when your team can’t seem to win a game. Manziel just seemed lost in Cleveland.
#ComebackSzn
Now Johnny is looking to make his way back to the NFL. He made a big step by fixing his off the field problems. Manziel is no longer the party animal that he once was. He went to rehab and really seems like a changed man. He gave a very candid interview on the Pardon My Take podcast.
"“The only thing I have on my plate right now is working out six days a week and playing a little golf on the side, trying to just keep myself in a good place, get away from some of the things I’ve been doing the last couple of years. Learn from my mistakes and get back to what I love doing and what I want to be doing in my life. I’m sitting here at 25 years old with a lot of time ahead of me. I don’t feel like I’ve wasted the prime years of my life. Kind of dig myself up from where I was the past couple years and make a really good push to get back on the football field.”"
Manziel has plenty of years of football ahead of him. Tom Brady is going to be playing for a few more years, but the Patriots are in need of his future replacement. Manziel seems to have fallen back in love with the sport. A new beginning could mean a new Manziel.
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With a few years under Brady’s watchful eye, Manziel could learn a lot from the greatest quarterback of all time.
Nate Burleson thinks Manziel could land in New England
On the NFL Network’s Good Morning Football Nate Burleson said that he thinks Manziel could end up in New England.
"Johnny can go there for a reason that not a lot of people realize. He’s not going to beat out Tom Brady, we all know that. I don’t think there’s any quarterback that can beat out Tom Brady as a free agent coming to the Pats,” Burleson said. “But there’s a competition that he would be confident in going into, and that’s the second-string position, which is my guy Brian Hoyer. Brian Hoyer (and) Johnny Manziel both played together (with the Cleveland Browns), so that second-string competition will be as high as ever, and it also would be like a memory for both of them and the best man will prevail.”"
It would be interesting to have a quarterback battle in training camp. The New England Patriots haven’t had one of those in a while. The competition would bring the best out of Manziel, and give fans a look at his skills. He is a dual-threat quarterback, but unlike guys like Tim Tebow, and RG3 who had great success in college, Manziel has a solid arm.
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Under the teachings of Brady and the great New England Patriots staff, Manziel could become the player he once was at Texas A&M.