HOOVER, Ala. — It was the moment everyone in the college football universe had been waiting for at the Southeastern Conference’s annual Media Days.
Johnny “Football” Manziel ascended to the podium at The Wynfrey Hotel, stared out into a proverbial sea of reporters, cameras and recorders, and answered questions about everything that has happened in his life since he became the first freshman to win the Heisman Trophy last December.
Since that coronation as college football’s most outstanding player and his subsequent dismantling of Oklahoma in the Cotton Bowl in January, the Aggies sophomore has had somewhat of a tumultuous offseason.
Reporters peppered Manziel with questions about off-field distractions ranging from his Twitter persona to rumors of rampant partying to leaving the Manning Passing Academy a day early last week.
“I feel like I am on a little bit higher pedestal than most people in college football,” Manziel said. “But at the same time, I’m still 20 years old, I’m still a sophomore in college, I’m still going to do things that everyone in college does and continue to live my life. Hopefully people don’t hold me to a higher standard than that.”
After winning the Heisman, Manziel has seen seemingly every aspect of his life thrust into the public eye. He acknowledged he has made some mistakes, including that he underestimated how much his life would change after that night in New York City.
“I never realized the magnitude,” Manziel said. “People told me, I heard it time and time again, but there are things that you don’t really understand until you go through it and deal with it.”
Most of the questions centered around his early departure from the Manning Academy — the most recent strange turn on the roller coaster ride that is Johnny Football’s life.
Manziel acknowledged that he had gone to what he called “social events” every night, but denied rumors that he missed meetings and was dismissed from Thibodeaux because he was partying too hard.
“The speculation of me being too hungover or whatever to go to meetings and that’s the reason I missed are absolutely incorrect,” Manziel said.
Instead, Manziel said he simply overslept, and the decision to leave the camp was mutual between him and the camp. He said the Mannings have already invited him to return to the camp in future years.
With all the off-the-field headlines, reporters questioned Manziel about where his focus was heading into the 2013 season and asked if he thought he was a distraction to himself or his teammates.
“Absolutely not,” Manziel said. “Football is football, and my teammates know where my heart is at. My coaches do. My family does, and that is what really matters to me.”
When asked about his partying, Manziel said it would not be an issue once the season starts. He said the season is a grind where all he does is put his head down and work with his teammates to get better from week to week.
“I guarantee that when it’s time to get ready to go and it’s football time, I will be absolutely 150 percent prepared to go,” Manziel said.
He said this would be the last time he addressed these issues, and that his total focus is now squarely on preparing for the Aggies’ season opener Aug. 31 against Rice.