“Johnny Football” exposed as just all hype

Manziel looked like the bust he was in the NFL in first CFL start

Johnny Manziel (#2) warms up on July 5, when he was with the Tiger-Cats.

    Wow, did the bubble sure burst on the Johnny Manziel balloon in record time.

    “Johnny Football” is an NFL bust.

    It appears he will become a CFL bust judging by his regular season debut on that circuit with the Montreal Alouettes.

    The 25-year-old Tyler, Texas product threw four bad interceptions resulting in 24 points for the visiting Hamilton Tiger-Cats in front of a crowd of 18,576 at Percival Molson Memorial Stadium in Montreal.

    How bad was the game for the Alouettes?

    They fell behind 28-0 with 3:51 remaining in the first quarter. The Tiger-Cats led 38-3 at halftime and cruised to a 50-11 victory.

    Manziel has a huge following making Friday’s game a much anticipated one, because he was a college star in the United States for the Texas A & M University Aggies. He won the Heisman Trophy as the most outstanding player for all of U.S. college football for his performance in the 2012 season.

    He guided the Aggies to a 41-13 victory over the Oklahoma University Sooners in that season’s Cotton Bowl.

    Manziel, who stands 6-feet and weighs 210 pounds, was selected by the Cleveland Browns in the first round and 22^nd overall in the 2014 NFL Draft.

    In two campaigns with the Browns in 2014 and 2015, Manziel went 2-6 as a starter. Overall, he completed 147-of-258 passes for 1,675 yards, seven touchdowns, seven interceptions and a 74.4 quarterback rating.

    To be fair, the Browns have struggled in the NFL for some time with their last .500 or better season coming in 2007, when they were 10-6. With that said, Manziel was plagued by controversies regarding his behavior during his time with Cleveland.

    In the early morning hours on Jan. 30, 2016, Manziel was involved in an alleged incident with ex-girlfriend Colleen Crowley in Dallas, Texas. On Feb. 25, 2016, Dallas police said they referred Manziel’s case to a district attorney as a misdemeanor assault/domestic violence allegation.

    The Browns released Manziel on March 11, 2016.

    Before 2016 expired, Manziel reached an agreement that led to the dismissal of the charges which included counselling.

The Alouettes haven’t made the CFL playoffs since 2014.

    If it was viewed Manziel could play in the NFL, one of its member teams would have overlooked the troubled history and given him a chance.

    Fast forward to May 18 of this year, Manziel signed as a free agent with the Tiger-Cats in an effort to revive his football career. Due to the Tiger-Cats sticking with Jeremiah Masoli as their starting quarterback, Manziel was traded to the Alouettes on July 22.

    Manziel and offensive linemen Tony Washington and Landon Rice went to the Alouettes in exchange for Canadian defensive end Jamaal Westerman, receiver Chris Williams and first round selections in the 2020 and 2021 CFL Draft.

    In his first CFL start and league action in regular season play on Friday, Manziel had a forgettable night completing 11-of-20 passes for 104 yards, no touchdowns and four aforementioned interceptions. He carried the ball twice for four yards and was pulled after the third quarter.

    The Tiger-Cats opened the game with a six-play touchdown drive that covered 79 yards. The march concluded with Masoli hitting receiver Brandon Banks with a 17-yard touchdown pass for a 7-0 lead.

    On Montreal’s first series, Manziel’s first CFL pass was an ill-advised throw over the middle that was picked off by Tiger-Cats linebacker Larry Dean. A short 12-yard touchdown drive followed giving Hamilton a 14-0 lead, and it was capped by a one-yard scoring run by running back Alex Green.

    The Alouettes proceeded to have a punt blocked on their next series by Tiger-Cats linebacker Curtis Newton. The ball was recovered by Hamilton running back Sean Thomas Erlington and returned 10 yards for a touchdown giving the Tiger-Cats a 21-0 lead.

    Montreal’s ship continued to sink. Manziel threw his second bad pass that was intercepted by Tiger-Cats defensive back Jumal Rolle. Following that interception, Hamilton drove 48 yards for another touchdown to go up 28-0. That march was capped when Masoli hit receiver Jalen Saunders for a 21-yard touchdown strike.

    The game was effectively over at that point.

    Masoli completed 17-of-26 passes for 300 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions.

    To be fair, the Alouettes have struggled for some time last making the post-season and advancing to the East Division Final in 2014. They were 3-15 last season and fell to 1-6 with Friday’s embarrassing loss.

    The Tiger-Cats ended a three-game skid improving to 3-4. Under former veteran NFL sideline bosses in head coach June Jones and defensive coordinator Jerry Glanville, the Tiger-Cats have played better than their record indicates.

    Slated to now travel to Winnipeg to play the Blue Bombers (4-3) on Aug. 10, the Tiger-Cats recorded another big offensive explosion they had been looking for since downing the Eskimos in Edmonton 38-21 on June 22.

Jeremiah Masoli won the job as the Tiger-Cats starting QB.

    While Manziel is playing on a weak Montreal side, he looked on the field like he did when he guided the Browns. In reality, Manziel is a dud at the professional level until he can prove otherwise. If there were any visions of grandeur of what he could do, they took a hit of reality on the field on Friday night.
    Being human, you never want to see someone fail and love comeback stories, but it is hard to imagine Manziel pulling the Alouettes out of their doldrums. It is more likely he will become a footnote in this run of Montreal woes.

    Things don’t get any easier for the Alouettes. They return to action on Aug. 11 to face the Redblacks (4-3) in Ottawa. The Redblacks are looking to rebound from a heartbreaking 42-41 last second loss to the Argonauts in Toronto on Thursday.

    For the Alouettes, the worst is likely yet to come unless they start backup signal caller Vernon Adams Jr.

    If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

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Roughriders’ victory clunky but very much welcome

Duron Carter (#89) defends a pass for the Roughriders.

    REGINA – The Saskatchewan Roughriders latest victory was so clunky that even the scoreboard operator began to act in similar fashion.

    With 8:54 remaining in the fourth quarter of Thursday’s CFL regular season clash at Mosaic Stadium, kicker Brett Lauther booted a 41-yard field goal to give the host Saskatchewan Roughriders a 12-10 lead over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. The scoreboard operator accidently put the three points up on Hamilton’s side of the ledger, and the Tiger-Cats were listed as having a 13-9 edge.

    Some of the 30,594 spectators in attendance had a bit of a short freak out. The mistake was spotted and the scoreboard was eventually corrected in about 30 seconds of real time listing Saskatchewan as holding a 12-10 edge.

    A little over three minutes later, the Tigers-Cats went back in front 13-12, when Hamilton kicker Lirim Hajrullahu nailed a 39-yard field goal.

    The Roughriders went back out in front 18-13 with 1:29 remaining in the fourth quarter, when running back Marcus Thigpen ran home a touchdown from 34 yards out to cap a four-play drive that covered 77 yards. The ensuing two-point conversion failed after the seventh lead change in the contest.

Roughrider receiver Naaman Roosevelt (#82) tries to avoid tacklers.

    The 18-13 scored held up as the final after the Roughriders stopped the Tigers-Cats on their last ditch two-minute drill drive. Both teams saw their respective records sit at 2-2 following the contest.

    While the win wasn’t a work of art, the Roughriders and their fans will gladly take it. The victory helped give relief from the sting of a confidence deflating two-game losing skid.

    Before the win over the Tiger-Cats, the Roughriders were crushed 40-17 on June 21 to the Redblacks in Ottawa. Saskatchewan followed that performance up with a 23-17 setback at Mosaic Stadium to the Montreal Alouettes, who had lost 13 straight regular season games heading into that contest.

QB Jeremiah Masoli (#8) had 333 passing yards for the Tiger-Cats.

    If Rider Nation wasn’t panicking, the fans had their hand over the panic button. If there wasn’t panic, there seemed to be quiet fear the Roughriders were going to embark on a bad season.

    The Roughriders are currently forced to work through key injuries to starting quarterback Zach Collaros and defensive back Nick Marshall. The play of their offensive line had been suspect.

    After two deflating losses, most Saskatchewan fans didn’t think their Roughriders could a Tiger-Cats squad that was coming off two straight impressive wins.

    Even in desperate times, over 30,000 came out to support the Roughriders outside of a sprinkling of Hamilton supporters. There wasn’t much for the home side to cheer about over the first 20 minutes as Hamilton slowly built a 4-0 lead.

    With 5:22 remaining in the second quarter, it appeared Roughriders starting quarterback Brandon Bridge scored on a 15-yard touchdown run.

The Roughriders’ special teams takes down Tiger-Cats KR Brandon Banks.

    On video review, it was ruled he fumbled before crossing the goal-line and the Tiger-Cats recovered the ball in the end zone to end the scoring threat.

    For fans in attendance, Bridge’s fumble seemed like par for the course looking back at the Roughriders two previous games.

    On the Tiger-Cats ensuing possession, Roughriders defensive lineman Charleston Hughes created a huge spark knocking the ball high into the air out of the hands of Tiger-Cats quarterback Jeremiah Masoli. Hughes grabbed the ball in the air and raced 57 yards downfield for a defensive touchdown to give Saskatchewan a 6-4 lead.

Charleston Hughes had a big game on Thursday night for the Roughriders.

    In classic Roughriders form, Lauther proceeded to miss the ensuing conversion attempt.

    Hajrullahu kicked a 30-yard field goal on the last play of the first half to give the Tiger-Cats a 7-6 edge at halftime.

    Despite doing very little on offence, the Roughriders had a legitimate chance to win.

    The teams traded field goals in the third quarter to allow Hamilton to exit the frame with a 10-9 edge. That set the stage for the dramatics in the fourth quarter.

    From a fan perspective, the Roughriders have a tendency to lose games they shouldn’t lose but seem to manage to win games they shouldn’t win.

    Masoli completed 23 of 43 passes for 333 yards to mark the ninth straight regular season game he surpassed 300 passing yards to equal a CFL record held by Sam Etcheverry and Kent Austin. Etcheverry achieved his streak in 1956 with the Alouettes, while Austin accomplished the same feat in 1991 with the Roughriders.

Christion Jones (#22) returns a kick for the Roughriders.

    Despite Masoli’s big game, the Roughrider still won.

    On the Saskatchewan side offensively, no one had an outstanding night.
    The Roughriders offensive really only caught fire for one series, and that was on the 77-yard march that resulted in the winning touchdown late in the fourth quarter.

    That series included an acrobatic 29-yard catch from receiver Joshua Stanford and Thigpen’s 34-yard touchdown run.

    When the game ended, Roughriders fans were elated their team won, but that elation seemed followed by a stunned query of, “Did we actually win that game?”

Members of Rider Nation celebrate the Roughrider victory.

    Going into a bye week, Thursday’s win brings some relief and restores some optimism to the Roughriders and their fans.

    The Roughriders now have ample time to prepare for their next game on July 19, when they travel to Hamilton to face the Tiger-Cats once again.

Back in the Express with NCAA champ

    I was back in the pages of the Saskatoon Express this week with a story on National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I lacrosse champion in Brendan Rooney.

    Rooney is a Saskatoon product who just completed his third season playing for the Yale University Bulldogs lacrosse team. He scored a goal for Yale, when they down the Duke University Blue Devils 13-11 in the NCAA lacrosse championship game on May 28 in Foxboro, Mass.

    A forward with the Yale lacrosse team, Rooney majors in molecular bio-physics and biochemistry in the classroom and aims to get into Yale’s medical school. He has a not so ordinary summer job too.

    The story on Rooney can be found by clicking right here.

    If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

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    If you like what you see here, you might want to donate to the cause to keep independent media like this blog going. Should you choose to help out, feel free to click on the DONATE button in the upper right corner. Thank you for stopping in.