Kerrville radio team on Manziel's Heisman: 'We called it'

Gabe Bock: We're here with Mark Keller and Wally Reed. If you don't know them, you probably know their voices. This is the play-by-play radio team that called all the games for Johnny Manziel. I'm talking to you guys immediately following the (Heisman) press conference. Your initial reaction?

Mark Keller: "Well listen, I still have goosebumps. I don't know ... one of the guys came up to me and he said, 'I don't know who's more excited, you or Johnny. This is unbelievable, what it means for Aggies, what it means for Kerrville, it's hard to put into words. And being here, being able to be in the environment and be right next to Johnny, just a special, special weekend."

Wally Reed: "Not just the winning prize. I, at the end, if you ask me, 'What do you feel,' I don't think there's an award big enough for Johnny in college football. I really don't think he's a guy you look at as ability, size, skills ... that's not what he is. He's greatness. So for me, that's my feeling."

GB: What is the scene tonight in Kerrville?

WR: "Oh, it really picked up. Really picked up in the last few days, right Mark?"

MK: "I've been getting texts and voicemails all night long saying that Kerrville is going crazy. I can only imagine what it's like in Aggieland. Kerrville's probably a smaller version of it, but I know people are going to be out on the streets tonight celebrating."

GB: Take me back to your first memory of when you saw this kid.

MK: "Varsity-wise, his sophomore year. And he wasn't even playing quarterback that year. They placed him as a wide receiver and a tailback, which I think helped him in his quarterback position. Because he had to learn the split end position, he had to learn the tailback position, and once he inherited the quarterback position, he already knew what the guys were doing."

WR: "Right, and the back, he wasn't a tail really, he was an offset back. He's got very little room between the line of scrimmage and he's got to run through all that. He runs through the hash marks better than anybody you ever saw. We have a highlight of him when he played receiver where he caught a football and his feet were higher than his head. (Laughter.)

MK: "That's true, that's true."

WR: "I'm not kidding you! It was good."

MK: "He's been making these plays since high school. And that sophomore year ... got better his junior year, senior year, and now look at him. Winds up in the Heisman Trophy his redshirt freshman year. Unbelievable."

GB: Did you think he would be a dynamic next-level player, especially when you first got a glimpse of him at the quarterback position?

WR: "Oh, absolutely. It's recorded in history that we picked him to win the Heisman Trophy. In the SMU game, one play and I said that was it. I had the whole section going crazy, they said 'It's all about the team.' But every once in a while there comes a guy that's so different.

"And let me tell you, Johnny's game is basically maintain space, run to space and create off space. But what he does — you show me one thing a player can do better than anyone else and I want as many of those guys as possible on my team — one thing about Johnny is that everybody's great (on this level) ... Johnny can't just be good because Johnny's great. You watch college football, you like it, you're an Aggie, it's in your blood. So let's talk about it. His backpedal ... have you seen a better backpedal than his, ever? Never.

"Now let me ask you another question. He plays on the balls of his feet, so he can move 360 degrees, all over. He can run through the line of scrimmage and be angled 30 degrees, 35 degrees and doesn't lose any speed and then he gets back vertical. You know anybody who can do that? I'll tell you another thing he can do, he can throw the football going toward the line of scrimmage with both feet off the ground and his feet separated and make a beautiful pass. Do you know anybody who can do that?

"So America, this isn't a regular player, a good player or a great player. He is the best. There's nothing Johnny can't do. And that's what I said in this press conference. Sooner or later everybody's going to realize that this is a different cat, he's going to change defenses, the lines of scrimmage when you see what he can do. But I'm sorry for talking so much."

MK: "Now you know why he's my color analyst, right? I do want to share a story with you though. Right after Tivy lost this state semifinal game, Johnny's junior year, we're walking back out and everybody's upset that we lost the state semifinal game. Paul (Manziel) made a comment as we were walking to the parking lot.

"He said, 'Mark my words, Johnny Manziel will win the Heisman one day.' This is the end of Johnny's junior year, so you think the dad doesn't know what he has in his son? What a special, special thing."

GB: Where do you think the guy goes from here? He's done it as a freshman. What do you know about this man's character and his unique ability to continue to progress but keep his head low to the ground?

MK: "Let me tell you what I think his character is. He's the guy who's going to bring a national championship to Texas A&M. And he's going to stay there until he gets it done."

WR: "You talk about growth, so often you think, 'You give me a lot of money dad, and you're not going to spoil me.' With Johnny Manziel, I've seen him, since he graduated from the school, it's worked the opposite. Now he's seen the responsibility, as we do as we grow into adulthood, of everything he does — not with his team, but everyone around him. He's playing above the level right now, I saw him against SMU when he was dominating over the football field.

"What's his chance, what's he want to do? 'You can do whatever you want Johnny,' I told him that before he ever played varsity football. I patted him on the shoulder pads and said, 'Johnny, are you tired of people telling you you're too small? Johnny, you can do whatever you want on a football field.' And I'll say to this day, you show me somebody that can do something better than Johnny Manziel. I have not seen it. He's great. Johnny can't be good because Johnny. Is. Great."

GB: Any final thoughts?

MK: "Obviously this is no doubt the biggest thing that's ever happened to Kerrville. Second greatest thing that's happened in Aggieland, it all started with (John David) Crow of course. Now Johnny Manziel's followed up with the Heisman, bringing it back to Aggieland. My goodness, I graduated a Red Raider, but I'm an Aggie fan now. My goodness. How could you not be?"