First there was the “Rocket Man,” the Kerrville-Tivy quarterback who electrified audiences on Friday nights. Then there was “Johnny Football,” the first redshirt-freshman to win the Heisman trophy while leading Texas A&M to an 11-2 record in its inaugural SEC campaign. Then there was “Johnny Cleveland” after Manziel went pro and was drafted by the Cleveland Browns, followed by “Johnny Baseball” when he was drafted by the San Diego Padres in the MLB Draft.
Johnny Manziel has acquired many titles, accolades and nicknames, and his latest may be “Johnny Basketball” after being “drafted” by the internationally-renowned performing act, the Harlem Globetrotters.
Joining soccer player Landon Donovan in the Globetrotter’s 2014 draft class, Manziel has now been “drafted” in three different sports since his days at Kyle Field.
For Manziel, this is simply the latest chapter of “Manziel Mania. He has shown abilities in other sports — including posting a .400 batting average in his final two years in high school and posting videos of himself performing different dunks on his Instagram account, which I’m sure the Globetrotters took into account—but the insatiability of the public regarding all-things Johnny Football is once again at a peak.
The next question regarding Manziel—even greater than whether or not he will start any games for the Browns in the upcoming NFL season—is whether or not he will make a clean sweep of the four major American sports Friday by being taken in the NHL Draft. I mean, who wouldn’t want to go to a Dallas Stars game and witness “Johnny on Ice”?
At this point it seems like there’s nothing the greatest improviser in college football history can’t do, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him starting at the forward position for the U.S. Men’s National Soccer team opposite fellow Texas native Clint Dempsey in the World Cup match against Germany on Thursday.