It’s hard to discuss college football without talking about Johnny Manziel. The former Texas A&M star with his electric play as a dual-threat QB made the world remember him as “Johnny Football”, becoming arguably one of the best CFB players of all time. Manziel shattered records as a red-shirt freshman, surpassing milestones set by legends, including Tim Tebow and Cam Newton.
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In 2012, Manziel became the first freshman to pass for over 3,000 yards and rush for over 1,000 yards in a single season, amassing an astounding 5,116 total yards of offense—a freshman record, surpassing Tebow and Newton.
On the latest episode of the 25/10 Show, Johnny Football reflected on the moment that changed the course of his career. He shared that his season started slowly, with Texas A&M losing their first game to Florida, followed by a shaky first half against SMU in their next matchup. At the time, Manziel worried that he might lose the starting quarterback job to his teammate Jameill Showers.
However, everything changed in the second half of the SMU game. Manziel turned his season around and went on a tear that would culminate in him lifting the Heisman Trophy in December. Reflecting on the journey, he described it as surreal—going from fighting for his spot to breaking records.
“Came out in the 2nd half of the game versus SMU and that’s where the run kind of started for me that season. To go from August of that year battling for the starting QB job to being able to end in December in New York with the Heisman and these records, it was just like a dream.”
That season and that crowning moment in the Big Apple opened a new world for him as he became a household name. It brought him fame and fortune, with celebs and musicians like Drake hanging around him and mentioning his name following the Heisman glory.
Johnny Manziel recalls the Heisman moment
Johnny Football’s historic season earned him the Heisman Trophy, the Davey O’Brien Award, and the Manning Award, making him the first freshman in history to win all three. On the same episode of the podcast, Manziel revealed that after his Heisman win, he felt like he was on top of the world.
Reflecting on his journey, Manziel admitted that as a kid growing up in Tyler, Texas, he could never have imagined achieving such heights.
” I feel like very much at that time I was on top of the world. I mean, you couldn’t turn on the TV or SportsCenter without seeing something that had to do with me. It was nuts. I did get to meet and hang out with people and do things. It’s a blessing.”
Johnny Football carried his momentum into the following season, throwing for 4,114 yards and 37 touchdowns while rushing for 759 yards and adding 9 more scores on the ground. It was his final season in college, as he declared for the NFL Draft soon after.
However, that decision marked a turning point in his career. The passion that once fueled him began to fade, and he lost his love for the game. What had been a meteoric rise ended in disappointment, leaving Manziel as one of football’s biggest “what if” stories in its history.
