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In a year, Johnny Manziel has gone from someone most of the country had never heard of to a Heisman Trophy winner who is snapping photos with seemingly every celebrity on the planet. It’s been a wild ride, and it’s not going anywhere.Johnny Manziel joined 790 The Ticket in Miami with the Dan LeBatard Show with Stugotz to discuss if he’d do anything different in the last few months, how his life has changed, where his Heisman Trophy is at, remaining humble, working out online classes and Texas A&M profiting from his name and play.
Is there anything over the last few months you’d do differently?:
“No sir, I don’t think so. I’ve just been enjoying some time off and enjoying all the hard work that we put in during the season. For me, there’s not really anything that I’d go back and change. I’ve learned a lot from every situation that’s gone on in my life and will continue to do that moving forward, but the main thing for me is just enjoying everything.”
Has there been anything in that time period that has caught you off guard?:
“Not a whole lot. Just some of the reactions with some of the things that have gone on in my life that have just blown up to such a national level is something that’s been eye-opening to me. … Photographs being out in some places and then I got a speeding ticket not too long ago, just driving back from Miami and that made ESPN somehow.”
Have you been able to get out of any speeding tickets lately?:
“No, I’ve tried to tone down the speeding since I got my last ticket.”
Have you decided yet where you’re putting the Heisman Trophy?:
“It’s safe and sound with my parents. My dad spends most of his time with it, so it’s either in Tyler with him or it’s with my mom. They kind of pass it around a little bit.”
It seems hard to believe you when you say your life hasn’t changed much:
“There’s different instances where life’s different for me. Around my family, my friends, my teammates and coaches and all these guys, things aren’t any different. But outside, in the general public … life is a lot different, for sure. … It’s really cool, just to see how my life has changed from where I started to where I am now. I’m so blessed to be on this ride that I’ve been on.”
Is it hard to remain humble?:
“I don’t think so. For me, I’ve known that without an enormous amount of people last year, my individual success would be nothing. I feel like I get to benefit a lot from the other people around me.”
Explain how you’ve worked it out so you have your classes online:
“For me, it was just something that, in my major, it allowed me to use online classes that are needed for me to get my degree in sports management. When I looked at it and when I set it up, and just how all the hype and everything coming off the Heisman … it was just good to get a chance to be not on campus … and being able to be at our academic facilities and be able to do my work and make sure I’m still focusing on my schoolwork.”
When I tell you that $37 million is the estimate that Texas A&M made off of you last year, you think what?:
“It’s great for the school. That’s my first thought. I don’t have any comment or anything on if student-athletes should get paid or anything like that, because I’m just happy that it’s doing some good for the university. … It doesn’t really bother me. It’s just how the NCAA rules are set up and you have to obey the rules.”
Were you surprised by your success?:
“I definitely hold myself to high expectations. For me, I wanted to come out and make sure I didn’t put our team in any bad situations. I just made sure to try and keep plugging it and make sure our team ran smoothly. For me, I feel like we did exceed our team expectations and personally, I felt like I exceeded that a little bit as well.”
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