New England Patriots’ quarterback Tom Brady has been the latest to weigh in on Texas A&M QB Johnny Manziel’s problems on and off the field.
“He’s [Manziel] probably been the best athlete in his high school class, in his elementary school class. So when you look across the ball, you have respect for those guys and treat them with respect. Football’s a physical game … and as [Patriots’ CEO Robert Kraft] would say, “If you’re a turd, it’s going to come back to you,” Brady said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”
Brady’s comments were in response to Manziel’s excessive taunting during Texas A&M’s season opener against Rice University. Forced to sit out for the first half of the game due to an NCAA investigation involving Manziel’s autographs debacle, the former Heisman Trophy winner led the Aggies to a 52-31 victory, completing six of his eight passes for 94 yards and three touchdown passes. But this did not come without further controversy.
The redshirt sophomore received an unsportsmanlike conduct and was later benched for taunting Rice players by miming autograph gestures.
Former Chicago Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher also commented on Manziel’s antics.
“I’m not saying he’s a punk, but he acted like a punk in that game,” Urlacher said. “[He’s] such a good football player. You saw in the second half, what he did — three touchdown passes and ran it pretty well. It’s just too bad he had to act like that. I’m pulling for the guy. I want him to do well.”
Ex-Oklahoma coach Barry Switzer offered his own perspective on the incident.
“I’m certainly disappointed in his actions,” Switzer said. “For him to act so arrogant, I wanted to jerk his face mask and I wanted to grab him. Of course you get fired for that now; in the old days you could get away with that. It’s the world we live in. It’s a misplaced value system. When I see this happen I wonder where the core value system comes from, if he has a core value system. This young man needs a damn hell of a lot of development.”