Johnny Manziel destroyed his own myth Monday. It was inevitable. This is what happens when you pull off the mask.
"I come from Kerrville, Texas and I still see myself that way," he said. "I don't see myself as Johnny Football. I see myself as Jonathan Manziel."
And that was just the beginning.
The Texas A&M freshman quarterback and Heisman Trophy favorite was speaking to the public for the first time. Until Monday, he had been hidden behind coach Kevin Sumlin's policy of not allowing first-year players to speak to the media, and partially as a result his mystery had grown as quickly as his legend.
Who was this guy? And what was there to hide? Does he talk like he plays, scrambling the lines between control and chaos? Does he speak German or something? Is he a hologram?
Well, not really. But sort of. When Manziel was thinking of a way to describe what it's like to be a freshman who is probably going to win the Heisman, his mind did turn to the digital realm.
"When you're sitting there playing all these NCAA games as a kid and you create a player and you win the Heisman because you just put up crazy numbers, it's something you can only sit back and dream about," he said.
That sums it all up pretty nicely, actually. He does seem to have been created out of thin air. Nobody knew in August he was going to be any good, except maybe his coaches and teammates, and even they appeared to have their doubts. Manziel was in a tight battle with Jameill Showers for the starting job for most of the offseason.
Then, boom, this kid comes in against Florida and starts in with these joystick scrambles of his, and a legend was born. The legend of Johnny Football.
Even Manziel never really pictured it like this.
"When I created a video game player I made him 6-6, 230 pounds," Manziel said. "I probably didn't make him my size. Typically I made him look something like Cam Newton."
Fitting, perhaps, that Manziel on Saturday broke Newton's SEC total yardage record. Manziel now has 4,600 yards, which is easily the most of anybody who is in contention for the Heisman Trophy.
His performance has made him a celebrity of sorts, at least in College Station, a town that doesn't feel an embryo bigger than its population of 96,921. When he went out for Halloween dressed as Scooby Doo (and accompanied by blonde who was dressed as … oh, as someone in their underwear), the photos spread quickly online. When he rescued a stray cat and posted about it on Twitter, it made national news. When people come over to his house, they ask for autographs. When he goes out to eat, people want to take photos.
It's all that.
"Everything is going to be watched," he said.
He notices when people mention him on Twitter, and he watches enough college football that he'll hear his name come up on the broadcasts, but Manziel says he doesn't like to read articles about himself, and he doesn't go out as much as he used to.
He speaks professionally and humbly, to a degree that is oddly disappointing. It does not play into the myth. He should be a loose cannon. He should sound like a young Yosemite Sam or something. He should say daring, irresponsible, cocky things. And yet he gives you none of that.
Instead, he talks about his offensive line.
"I believe we have one of the best offensive lines in the country," he said. "It's something I'm incredibly thankful for."
He does not campaign for the Heisman.
"Whatever's meant to be, it'll happen," he said.
He considers himself lucky, not pressured.
"It's a game," he said. "It's something we're so lucky to be able to play."
He laughs at his nickname. He gets a kick out of being called Scooby Doo. He says he held himself to a high standard, but he never imagined the season would go this well.
And you wonder if he has anything he's been wanting to say.
"I don't know if there's anything I've been dying to say," he said. "Whatever coach Sumlin's policy was, I was going to respect that. I trust he knows what's best for me and the whole team.
"It's kind of nice now to be able to let you guys know how I am a little more since there's so many question marks out there."
