Despite his failure to thrive in the NFL, there’s no denying that Johnny Manziel was one of the most electrifying quarterbacks in the history of college football. However, unknown to many, there was one program that didn’t believe he would be that good as a college QB.
Apparently, when the Texas Longhorns were recruiting Manziel, they wanted him to play safety instead.
Johnny Manziel Sheds Light on Texas Longhorns Recruitment
During his latest appearance on the Club ShayShay podcast, Manziel shared some stories about his collegiate career. One thing that stood out was the Longhorns recruiting him, but not to play as quarterback but rather to go to the defense as a safety.
Sure enough, it was a big reason why Manziel didn’t go to Texas despite being a big fan of the program. Instead, he committed to the Texas A&M Aggies and proceeded to be a Heisman Trophy winner and AP College Football Player of the Year.
“I think that’s a big reason why I didn’t go to the University of Texas. They wouldn’t pull the trigger on me and my size at any position. They wanted me to play safety. Safety, me. Ain’t got a lot of white safeties out there Shannon,” Manziel explained, as transcribed by On3 Sports.
He added, “I was probably 173 pounds, 175. They saw athletic ability. They saw a special athletic talent, and they didn’t know what it was and to be honest, until I met George Whitfield and went and started training with him, I didn’t believe in myself that I was a quarterback.
“I was just wanting to play football. I would play receiver. I played running back in high school. I played anything that I could play to get on the field and be with my dogs.”
Sure enough, it was a big mistake for the Longhorns to pass up on Manziel. While he didn’t win a national title with the Aggies, he did prove to be one of the best college quarterbacks in the nation during that time.
In his two-year stint with Texas A&M, he tallied 7,820 yards for 63 touchdowns against just 22 interceptions–meaning he put up over 3,500 yards in both seasons while completing 68.9 percent of his passes.
Texas Longhorns Coach Deny Johnny Manziel’s Claim
For what it’s worth, it has been rumored before that the Texas Longhorns were recruiting Johnny Manziel as a defensive back or safety. However, then coach Mack Brown denied those reports.
Back in 2013, Brown said he never offered Manziel to join the Longhorns, via For The Win.
“We never offered Johnny, and we sure didn’t offer him as a safety. That’s been blown out of proportion,” Brown explained.
It’s definitely interesting to ask why there are two different versions of the story here. By Brown’s statement, he’s arguing they never recruited Manziel. But things are different for Johnny Football himself.
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1 Comment
Why are we still listening to this chronic under achiever?