He led players on and off the field. Off the field activities formed a poor culture.

On the field- playing La Tech 2012 - we fumble on the goal line and he pushes a defender out of the way to tackle and strip the ball. Strips the ball and another guy gets it and he tackles him! That is serious DESIRE to WIN. Most qb's would watch.

cecil77 said:

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I think some confuse superb skills and performance with "leadership".

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I think some confuse going to church on Sunday with being a leader.

We will all be dead before A&M gets a guy as good as Johnny !

Never

Not at all, but a "leader" behaves such that emulating him is a positive. That's the very definition of "to lead". Manziel abjectly failed at that, and his legacy harmed the program. Or the coaches allowed it to, whichever.

TxAg76 said:

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sellthefarm said:

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bero88 said:

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The two best examples of his leadership were against La. Tech and Duke.

La Tech our defense played terribly and he literally put his team on his back and willed the team to a win.




Against Duke he was on the sideline getting in guys faces, cheering the team up saying we aren't going to lose.


Ironically this was his first and last ever win in an Aggie uniform.

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Also bama in '13. Evans started off terribly. JFF grabs him by the face mask and tells him to play better...and he proceeds to go off. We still lost but they made it a game.

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Oh heck no. JFF started to say something, grabbed face mask, and Evans lost his schidt, told JFF to back off and STFU.
JFF is lucky Evans didn't throw him thru a wall.

That interaction was not positive at all.

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It was ugly but it got Evans focused. JFF knew Evans wasn't focused and he got in his face. They didn't sing kumbaya but JFF definitely got Evans attention. JFF would grab the pimp stick and break it over his knee if he were on this team.

sellthefarm said:

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TxAg76 said:

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sellthefarm said:

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bero88 said:

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The two best examples of his leadership were against La. Tech and Duke.

La Tech our defense played terribly and he literally put his team on his back and willed the team to a win.




Against Duke he was on the sideline getting in guys faces, cheering the team up saying we aren't going to lose.


Ironically this was his first and last ever win in an Aggie uniform.

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Also bama in '13. Evans started off terribly. JFF grabs him by the face mask and tells him to play better...and he proceeds to go off. We still lost but they made it a game.

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Oh heck no. JFF started to say something, grabbed face mask, and Evans lost his schidt, told JFF to back off and STFU.
JFF is lucky Evans didn't throw him thru a wall.

That interaction was not positive at all.

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It was ugly but it got Evans focused. JFF knew Evans wasn't focused and he got in his face. They didn't sing kumbaya but JFF definitely got Evans attention. JFF would grab the pimp stick and break it over his knee if he were on this team.

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ehhh
Things like the pimp stick and the trash can are fine when you are executing in all phases of the game. When you get off to the start we did, and have the most recent 4 seasons to remember...pretty damn stupid to have a gimmick like that.
Makes it very clear none of the coaching staff have learned their lesson.

dude95 said:

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I don't know that I remember Johnny being that way. Sure...the Duke game he was vocal and trying to pump up the team. But that was the only game I remember that in.

He was a hell of a competitor on the field and had once in a generation talent, but we don't hear stories about how he pushed the team in the weight room, film room or outside of practice. I agree we heard that from Porter, maybe some of the other defensive upper classmen.

We did hear/see his partying and doing other things outside of football. He's the greatest QB that we've had here at A&M, but I don't know he was really a leader.

I think the closest thing we've had to having a leader at QB in Sumlin's tenure has been Knight. Only issue with him was he was only here a year.

You have to have coaches that the team is willing to follow, but you also have to have those guys on the team that will push more than the coaches are allowed (extra hours, ect). With all of the freshmen playing right now, maybe that's where we're getting hit by most.

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Everyone commented (that I've read) that every guy in that locker room loved Johnny. Loved his swagger, his confidence, and his hatred of losing. It was infectious. That is what you cannot teach or find in a bottle.

I don't think even the guy that recruited Johnny and convinced Sherman to bring him on realized he had that.

cecil77 said:

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Not at all, but a "leader" behaves such that emulating him is a positive. That's the very definition of "to lead". Manziel abjectly failed at that, and his legacy harmed the program. Or the coaches allowed it to, whichever.

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JFF's on field leadership speaks for itself. It is unsurpassed in the annals of Aggie football!

Unfortunately, and this is the part you harp on, his off-field "leadership" detracted from what he accomplished between the sidelines, but despite those shortcomings, he remains THE most exciting college football player I've seen in six decades of following it closely. That can never be erased.

His leadership provided Aggies the ONE brief period of sustained excitement and pleasure amid a two decade football drought/wilderness! The record speaks for itself.