College football begins its unofficial start this week. Media days are beginning across the country, which means fall practice will start soon and games will follow behind shortly.
Southeastern Conference media days started on Tuesday in Hoover, Ala. A ton of media are gathering at the press conferences for the best football conference in the land.
The SEC won the last seven national championships with coaches such as Nick Saban, Les Miles and Steve Spurrier. But one person might overshadow these coaches and he's only beginning his second year as a starter—Johnny Manziel
More than 1,000 media members will cover every sneeze and blow every perceived slight out of proportion. All the media folks might need a stadium to fit in a single place when Manziel makes his appearance at SEC Media Days.
Last season, Manziel became the starting quarterback at Texas A&M, beat Alabama (the team that would go on to win the National Championship) and won the Heisman Trophy. The Aggies quarterback has become a sports rock star.
Everything Manziel does is magnified and, with social media, his every move or tweet blows up to extreme proportions. The quarterback tweets he is ready to leave College Station and it makes news all over the country.
Manziel leaves the Manning Passing Academy a day early due to illness and rumors start that he is spending too much time partying, even though Peyton Manning said Manziel was a great college counselor and coach at the camp.
Texas A&M fans might not want to hear this, but Manziel has become the next Tim Tebow. The former Florida quarterback was such a huge figure that even his virginity was a topic at the 2009 SEC Media Days.
Manziel to Tebow comparisons might become even louder if the Aggies quarterback decides to leave for the NFL after this season. In a NFL.com article, scouts were split over Manziel.
One general manager told Mike Freeman of CBSSports.com that Manziel might be better than Andrew Luck, Robert Griffin III or Russell Wilson. Another scout said Manziel "has Canada written all over him."
It only takes one team to fall in love with Manziel and draft him in the first round. It only took the Denver Broncos to want Tebow to draft him in the first round as well.
If this is Manziel's last season at Texas A&M, everything he says and does will be scrutinized. His plays will be broken down by every media member and scout to the point that the way he stands in practice will become a point of discussion.
This is not to say that Manziel will be the new Tebow in the NFL, but he will be the new Tebow until he leaves college and gets drafted.
The way I see it, Manziel is not a Tebow clone. While "Johnny Football" has had some minor off the field transgressions, Tebow makes news for his spiritual beliefs, not his fun beyond practice. As long as scouts and general managers remain largely split, Manziel will remain closer to Tim Tebow than Andrew Luck or Robert Griffin III.
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