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In the past, we would identify Johnny as a "functioning alcoholic." Is that still an acceptable designation or descriptor?

I'm gonna need a ruling from the PC Court of Appeals.

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He was a functional alcoholic for a a time. The subsequent booting from the league, domestic abuse charges, public pleas for help from his immediate family, being dumped by agents and endorsement partners, diagnosis of bipolar disorder, etc etc indicate he might have real problems, right?

Johnny

KK and JM are still good friends and talk all the time. This is much ado about nothing.

roxtar said:

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Kliff on Barstool podcast:

That Halloween, Manziel was famously photographed dancing with a woman while wearing a Scooby-Doo costume at a party. According to Kingsbury, who was A&M's offensive coordinator at the time, the photo was taken the day before the Aggies were set to leave for Mississippi State.

Manziel missed the team's offensive meeting that morning. Kingsbury said he and the staff were trying to cover for the star quarterback, hoping he can at least make it to the final walkthrough in College Station. We'll let Kingsbury take it from here:

"Johnny has some crazy excuse. His roommate pulled the plug on his alarm clock, or something, electricity. But we already know what he's been doing.

"So he misses the offensive meeting, trots out to walkthrough -- Coach Sumlin (former coach Kevin Sumlin) doesn't know at this point that he's late -- goes through the walkthrough, probably, I think, still a little intoxicated at that point.

"We do our deal, (he) gets on the plane, goes to Starkville, plays the best game I've ever seen. At that point, I'm like, 'This kid is not human.'"

Manziel was 30-of-36 passing for 311 yards and rushed for 129 yards and two touchdowns in a 38-13 win over the No. 17 Bulldogs. He eventually won the Heisman that year and let the Aggies to their first top-five finish in the final Associated Press poll since 1956.

Between gamedays, one rarely knew what they were going to get from Manziel, as Kingsbury's story indicates. But on Saturdays that season, Manziel nearly always delivered, which is probably why staffers didn't mind covering for him.


I don't like what I just read.

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This happens much more than meets the public eye with star players.

Most of you clearly didn't listen to the whole thing. These guys were riffing and telling stories, you can tell they are all great friends. I figured that JFF stating twice that he loved watching tard games more than ours would get everyone riled up.

If Johnny was missing meetings or late, it's because he wasn't scared of Sumlin. That falls squarely on Sumlin.

Not to dismiss Johnny's juvenile attitude, but it's a fact that everything everyone says bad about his behavior Joe Namath did times 50. But no one cared back then.

Mickey Mantle of college football

There was a really interesting segment about Johnny's fight and arrest. KK said JFF almost wasn't allowed to play but Johnny charmed his way back on the field.

So the Texags takeaway is that the only problem was we had a guy as head coach that put blinders on to his QB's off the field issues and rode him to victories in a lightning-in-a-bottle type season. But it's ok because we got rid of that guy and got a guy that put blinders on to his QB's off the field issues and rode him to victories in a lightning-in-a-bottle type season. So good thing we took care of that problem I guess.

Goat

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Not to dismiss Johnny's juvenile attitude, but it's a fact that everything everyone says bad about his behavior Joe Namath did times 50. But no one cared back then.

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Right, and probably a good analog. Booze wrecked Namath's life by his own admission. He lost his family, got fired by Monday Night Football a few months in for drinking beer at 8 AM in front of network management. He humiliates himself by trying to drool all over Suzy Kolber in a live halftime interview in 2003, obviously drunk as hell. Sad story.

That is why threads like this confuse me. JFF can be both our goat and a guy with serious substance abuse issues at the same time. All the huffing and puffing over to the contrary is strange really. It is what it is.

Anyway, this sounds comparable.

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While there is no evidence Namath, now 61, ever played drunk, Kriegel cites instances when the quarterback must have felt the effects of the night before. On the eve of the 1966 season finale against Boston, Namath and his friend Frank Cicatiello decided to celebrate the end of the season a little prematurely.

"We were out all night. I mean, all night," Kriegel quotes Cicatiello as saying. "I don't know how Joe played that game. I don't see how he even got dressed to play. I'll guarantee you he don't remember the first half."
If he doesn't, it's a shame, because Namath that day completed 14 of 21 passes for 287 yards and three touchdowns in the Jets' 38-28 victory. It turned out he played that game with torn cartilage in his right knee, an injury that required surgery a few weeks later.

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https://nypost.com/2004/07/25/when-joe-got-blitzed-namath-bio-reveals-boozy-jet-qb-at-rock-bottom/

I missed one meeting when I was in school and had to run after practice until I puked for two weeks! Never missed another meeting. It was all KDS fault!

When I read that I realize that Mike Sherman would have never started or rolled with Johnny for an entire season.

Nino Brown said:

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Mickey Mantle of college football

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Some humans, just like top race horses, are wired differently. Some combo of genetics etc comes together in a perfect storm every so often. Unfortunately you rarely see a choir boy with these traits.

"functioning alcoholic."

I think most of us were this in college, just didn't play football.

Kliff needing more attention...

This is the time when I usually say if JFf would have practiced harder and been more of an old school team player that he'd been better...

But he couldn't have been any better, so there's that...

cedar said:

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KK and JM are still good friends and talk all the time. This is much ado about nothing.

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This. Some people didn't care to listen to the podcast.

I just re-read the article... Kliff sounds like the crazy ex-girlfriend that needs the final say in something that doesn't need to be said. I'm not sure why bringing this up 6 years later is even relevant. The spin could be that as a coach, he clearly had no control of his players and a disciplined team was low on the list of priorities as long as the player was a superstar. Well, that superstar player made Kliff rich..

so Kliff, shut the **** up!

(edited, following listening to the full podcast)

zephyr88 said:

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I just re-read the article... Kliff sounds like the crazy ex-girlfriend that needs the final say in something that doesn't need to be said. I'm not sure why bringing this up 6 years later is even relevant. The spin could be that as a coach, he clearly had no control of his players and a disciplined team was low on the list of priorities as long as the player was a superstar. Well, that superstar player made Kliff rich..

so Kliff, shut the **** up!

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Jesus Christ, listen to the ****ing podcast

Fortunate to have Kliff back then. Great sense of humor on the podcast.

Kinda makes you wonder... would a sober, hard working Manziel had been better? Or worse?

I think him not giving a **** is what made him so electrifying.

Sex Panther said:

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zephyr88 said:

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I just re-read the article... Kliff sounds like the crazy ex-girlfriend that needs the final say in something that doesn't need to be said. I'm not sure why bringing this up 6 years later is even relevant. The spin could be that as a coach, he clearly had no control of his players and a disciplined team was low on the list of priorities as long as the player was a superstar. Well, that superstar player made Kliff rich..

so Kliff, shut the **** up!

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Jesus Christ, listen to the ****ing podcast

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Damn... the SportsDay article reads Kinda like a tell-all story, the podcast sounds like two guys slapping dicks.

My bad Panther, I should have listened to the pod (and not read the article).

And, I'm not Jesus Christ... but I hear he's a pretty cool dude.

zephyr88 said:

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Sex Panther said:

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zephyr88 said:

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I just re-read the article... Kliff sounds like the crazy ex-girlfriend that needs the final say in something that doesn't need to be said. I'm not sure why bringing this up 6 years later is even relevant. The spin could be that as a coach, he clearly had no control of his players and a disciplined team was low on the list of priorities as long as the player was a superstar. Well, that superstar player made Kliff rich..

so Kliff, shut the **** up!

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Jesus Christ, listen to the ****ing podcast

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Damn... the SportsDay article reads Kinda like a tell-all story, the podcast sounds like two guys slapping dicks.

My bad Panther, I should have listened to the pod (and not read the article).

And, I'm not Jesus Christ... but I hear he's a pretty cool dude.

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WTH?

ClassOf17 said:

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Kinda makes you wonder... would a sober, hard working Manziel had been better? Or worse?

I think him not giving a **** is what made him so electrifying.

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John Daly would agree

hillcountryag86 said:

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zephyr88 said:

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Sex Panther said:

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zephyr88 said:

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I just re-read the article... Kliff sounds like the crazy ex-girlfriend that needs the final say in something that doesn't need to be said. I'm not sure why bringing this up 6 years later is even relevant. The spin could be that as a coach, he clearly had no control of his players and a disciplined team was low on the list of priorities as long as the player was a superstar. Well, that superstar player made Kliff rich..

so Kliff, shut the **** up!

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Jesus Christ, listen to the ****ing podcast

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Damn... the SportsDay article reads Kinda like a tell-all story, the podcast sounds like two guys slapping dicks.

My bad Panther, I should have listened to the pod (and not read the article).

And, I'm not Jesus Christ... but I hear he's a pretty cool dude.

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WTH?

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listen to the podcast and you'll get it too...

Some places build statues and make movies about guys like him.

George Gipp

New York Times-It turns out, according to Mr. Cox, that besides being the greatest runner, passer and kicker in Notre Dame history, ''Gipp was the team's bookie.'' He drank, he smoked, he was both a cardshark and a poolshark, and he helped college friends pay their tuition with his winnings at the craps table, Mr. Cox writes.

Because this was long before TV, Gipp was not widely recognized, so he could go to the bars unrecognized, bet on himself to score in the next day's game, then go out the next night and collect.

Sports Illustrated-Gipp was also a masterful card player. He was a fixture in the nightly poker game at the old Oliver Hotel in downtown South Bend; obviously, Gipp spent much of his time downtown. "You didn't see George around the campus very often except at practice," said Gene Oberst, another of Gipp's former teammates, who died last May in Cleveland. "And he didn't always show up at practice. But Rockne didn't seem to mind, because he knew George was something special. And the players didn't object, because every-one liked him a lot. He was a very friendly fellow and very handsome. The ladies loved him."