It happens every year. A draft prospect sits in the green room, and he tries to keep cool as he plummets down the draft. The cameras go to him often, and the player tries to keep cool.
This year, it was Johnny Manziel, a player so well-known from his college days that Cowboys owner Jerry Jones referred to him as “Elvis Presley.” Manziel stayed cool on television, but what was he really thinking?
According to MMQB’s Peter King, Manziel thought he was in trouble[2].
The Rams passing on him hurt. Because now he thought he’d be in for a free-fall. He turned to [agent Eric] Burkhardt, and sort of out of the side of his mouth, said this:
“E.B., we’re screwed.”
Manziel said he had a good visit with the Rams, and considering Sam Bradford’s unclear future, Manziel could have made sense. Instead, the Rams took Aaron Donald. Manziel was finally taken by the Browns with the 22nd pick.
With the Browns, Manziel will have to face a whole different sort of pressure than he did in the green room. He is joining a team which already has a quarterback who showed he can do great things before going down with an ACL tear.
Brian Hoyer and Manziel are in an instant quarterback competition[3], and they will most likely figure out how to win the starting job without the services of Josh Gordon. The league’s top receiver is expected to miss most, if not all of the 2014 season because of a suspension[4].
If he thought he was screwed during the draft, what were his thoughts after learning about Gordon?
References
- ^ Posts by Maggie Hendricks (q.usatoday.com)
- ^ Manziel thought he was in trouble (mmqb.si.com)
- ^ an instant quarterback competition (q.usatoday.com)
- ^ of the 2014 season because of a suspension (www.usatoday.com)
- ^ Cleveland Browns (q.usatoday.com)
- ^ Johnny Manziel (q.usatoday.com)
