National Football League

No fear: Johnny Manziel does his Pro Day workout HIS way

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 12:05 p.m. ET

Sid Saraf

Remember when Pro Days were a private affair? Aaron Rodgers said it best:

Johnny Manziel turned the standard pro day workout on its head on Thursday, as he put on a display for a gaggle of NFL scouts and even a former president (George H.W. Bush), a president's wife (Barbara) and their two dogs.

First of all, strode out on the Texas A&M practice field and took over midfield, addressing the gaggle of NFL head coaches, scouts and personnel honks in attendance -- telling ESPN later he wanted to welcome everyone to College Station, a "tough place to get to." It's safe to say, Johnny was ready to do thing his way.

Then, the lightning-rod quarterback gathered his workout buddies wearing a helmet, shoulder pads and camouflage shorts, instead of just the standard workout wear -- no T-shirt, pal. Why?

Is @JManziel2 a pioneer for wearing pads for his pro day? It's actually smart as hell & should be the norm! Wonder who follows? #kudos
— Tiki Barber (@TikiBarber) March 27, 2014

If that wasn't enough, Johnny Football went out on the field and lit it up, completing 61-of-64 scripted throws. He also connected on his first 36 attempts. Two incompletions were catchable balls that were dropped and the third was caught by star receiver Mike Evans out of bounds. Don't think Manziel wasn't counting.

So, was he feeling any nerves? Not on your life.

"Why come out here in a scripted workout and be scared of anything," Manziel said to NFL Network. "My main thing was, I am not scared of anything. I don't play that way on the field."

So, did he make an impact? At least one NFL player was impressed:

And guess who else was there and conveniently holds the No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft?

So, what can we take away from Thursday's workout? What did Johnny Football show us?

"I can make any throw on the field and hopefully compete with anybody," he said.