(photo courtesy USA Today Sports/Matthew Emmons)
We've all had bad days at the office or wherever you do your work from these days. We've all been frustrated when we make mistakes from time to time, but none of us have the spotlight that reigning Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel does and thus the microscope that he lives under these days. However, none of us usually put our hands on our bosses after a bad day either and that's exactly what Johnny Football did on Saturday, according to a report from the Houston Chronicle.
In the article they describe the situation like this:
Following his last of three interceptions, on a short pass into the end zone as he ran into the right sidelines, an exuberant graduate assistant jumped up and down within what appeared to be inches of an irate Manziel. So Manziel shoved him. Players and coaches, who were all gathered along the sidelines, quickly separated the Giddy GA and Manziel before anything escalated.
The writer, Brent Zwerneman, appears to shrug this incident off as no big deal and just Manziel "showing his competitive fire." While there is some truth in that statement and it's understandable to be frustrated with yourself there are certain lines that shouldn't be crossed and one of those lines are players and coaches putting their hands on each other. That's not competitive fire, that's just being stupid.
We've seen coaches get fired for such things in the past (post Woody Hayes days), hell we've seen coaches get fired for even the implication of untoward behavior towards players in the past (Mike Leach at Texas Tech ring a bell?) and as such the line has been drawn.
If coaches aren't to put hands on players, than players shouldn't be doing the same, regardless of the situation. Especially when we're talking about a graduate assistant folks. These guys already do enough grunt work that most folks in the media or general public will never hear about. They don't need players shoving them around in frustration either.
Of course, I'm sure things were and will be handled behind closed doors, but if Manziel wants to be a true leader for this team he's got to make smarter decisions. Taken by itself this incident really isn't that big of deal in the grand scheme of what happens inside a football team. But, what's more troubling is this is yet another in a pattern of questionable decisions made by the Heisman Trophy winner.
Manziel isn't helping his case to stay out of the negative spotlight at all by routinely sticking his foot in the idiot pool. He does know that cameras, cell phones, and media everywhere will be around him at every corner, right? So, why not lay low, keep calm, and just play football?
