Dec 31, 2013; Atlanta, GA, USA; Texas A&M Aggies quarterback Johnny Manziel (2) reacts to the sideline against the Duke Blue Devils during the second quarter in the 2013 Chick-fil-a Bowl at the Georgia Dome. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports
Johnny Manziel has some red flags, as Mike Zimmer himself pointed out.
Could one of those red flags be his taste in music?
Somewhat amazingly, Manziel’s musical choices at his pro day workout have been brought up as a concern by people in the NFL.
Shaun King, who used to make his living as a quarterback before becoming an analyst, said he has heard that some “decision makers” were upset by the graphic language on display in Manziel’s pro day pump-up music.
The loud hip-hip blaring through the speakers at Manziel’s Texas A&M session certainly contributed to the “sideshow” atmosphere of the proceedings, but are NFL people so nit-picky about every aspect of everything that they would really zero in on the lyrical content of said music as an issue?
Well, let’s put it this way: this is the same group of people who think DeSean Jackson might be in a gang because they saw some pictures of him flashing gang signs.
Generation gap much?
The Manziel image now, at least as we’re supposed to perceive it from the way all these media reports are going, is of a guy with great talent who isn’t willing to work at his game, and is too easily distracted by all the outside stuff like partying with Drake.
Mike Zimmer, purposely or not, fed into this image with his “blunt” discussion of Manziel’s red flags.
Whether this image is all draft season silliness/calculated torpedoing or something real that teams should be concerned about?
I don’t know. I do suspect that the music issue is mostly just a cultural disconnect between the old white men who mostly run the NFL and kids like Manziel who don’t even blink at the sound of f-bombs being dropped in songs.
Maybe the solution for Manziel is to change up his musical tastes. Mix in a little Sinatra. Some Nat King Cole?
Instead of Johnny Football, he should become Johnny Velvet. Start drinking sherry and smoking a pipe. Get some sweaters.
Whatever you have to do to score the millions, that’s what Manziel should do.
And the old white men in the NFL? Don’t worry about the bad words. Mike Zimmer drops more effinheimers in an average defensive meeting than are contained on all the Rick Ross tracks ever recorded.
At least that’s what I’m given to believe.
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