Is his Athletic ability the only thing larger than his ego? Johnny Manziel otherwise known as “Johnny Football” has sparked  a lot of attention this off season. Whether you’re reading his tweets, seeing which party he attended, or best of all, watching him on the field, Johnny Football is an attention grabber.

Either you love him or you hate him.  A lot of NFL players are being asked to give opinions on the first ever freshman Heisman winner; is he as good as he thinks he is? Will he make it in the NFL?

Brian Urlacher, former Bear’s linebacker had this to say about Johnny Football, “I’m not saying he’s a punk, but he acted like a punk in that game.”He was referring to  A&M’s  opener against Rice in which Manziel was suspending during the first half due to allegations of receiving money for autographs.  Manziel entered the game in the third quarter pounding his chest and chest bumping his players. To say the least, he was ready to play.

Manziel threw for three touchdowns ran for 19 yards and best of all put on a show for his fans which everyone knows he is capable of doing. After being tackled by a Rice defender, Johnny bounced up in the defender’s face appearing to mimic signing an autograph.  After an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for pointing up at the score board to the opposing team, A&M’s coach decided he had seen enough of the young star and Manziel was benched after only a quarter.

After all the controversy surrounding Manziel, all eyes were on him to see how he would perform after serving his half game suspension. One would expect he grew up a little bit and learned from his mistakes; however, when he ran out, pounding his chest, throwing up the money sign, I knew the good ol’ Johnny Football was back and better than ever and I couldn’t have been more excited.

Most people think he’s too cocky and needs to play with more sportsmanship but I couldn’t disagree more. He backs up his talk on the field. He is a blast to watch. He puts a target on his back because everyone who isn’t on his team hates him. Anyone who can play like he does can talk as much as they want. Although being better in the classroom and not partying as much would make him look better to NFL scouts, being himself makes him stand out.

Being compared to Alex Moran from Blue Mountain State, Johnny Football is rather close minded to others opinion of him. He is my favorite player in college football. He is living up his college years and playing the game better than anyone else on the field. To me as long as he isn’t breaking any rules, why does it matter what he does off the field?

It’s impossible to turn on sports center without hearing about how Johnny Football made another mistake. Leave the poor kid alone and let him party like everyone else in college.    Just because he is an amazing athlete doesn’t restrict him from having a good time off the field. Rob Gronkowski on the New England Patriots gets scrutinized for partying as well but they both seem to be doing rather well on the football field.

I asked Elder’s Starting quarterback Nick Peters about his thoughts on Manziel and he said, “I love to watch him play, but as a quarterback I don’t want to give the defense any better reason to want to tackle me. He taunts the defense and urges them to try and hurt him. I respect him for being fearless and one of the best quarterbacks in college football.”

Whether you love him or hate him, you can’t argue that Johnny Football is a blast to watch, on and off the field.