Johnny Victim: Manziel's Performance Drawing Far Too Much Criticism

By now the less-than-impressive performance that Johnny Manziel put on this past Sunday is playing second fiddle to the Chicago Bears' decision to bench Jay Cutler against Detroit this week. Yet amidst the news of Jimmy Clausen getting the start for the Bears this Sunday there has still been plenty of talk about Manziel's future both in the coming week and the seasons ahead. Sure the Browns took a ruthless beating from the Cincinnati Bengals, but is it really worth all of the emotion and analysis?

Hoyer's performance quickly fell off after week 10

Going back to Manziel's days at Texas A&M, I found it hard to be a fan of him. I loved his game, but his antics off the field really dissuaded me from supporting him. He was exciting to watch and gave the college football world a very special and unique talent, but the constant media attention to every little thing he did while at A&M got annoying real quick.

When he was finally drafted late in the first round this past April, the quarterback competition began immediately in Cleveland. It was believed by some that Manziel would be named the starter to begin the season yet Mike Pettine chose to go with Brian Hoyer as the first-string quarterback. Though Manziel still managed to find his way into headlines throughout the first half of the season, he had begun to fade into the background as Hoyer had the Browns in playoff position. Through the first nine games, Hoyer led Cleveland to a 6-3 record while completing ten touchdown passes in comparison to just four interceptions.

However, it was in week 11 when Hoyer's season started unraveling. After the 6-3 start, the Browns dropped three of their next four behind very poor performances from their starting quarterback. In those four games, Hoyer threw for only one touchdown while tossing eight interceptions. With the Browns playoff hopes dwindling, Pettine decided to go with Johnny Manziel in week 15, which brings us now to this past week of embarrassing commotion.

Most everybody knows how Johnny Football's debut went. No touchdowns, two interceptions, 10-18 passing, and 13 yards rushing on 5 attempts. Not exactly your Hall of Fame statistics by any means. However, the debut of Johnny Manziel was so hyped, so over-analyzed, and so highly-anticipated that the only way Manziel could have lived up to it all was to have a Manning or Brady-like performance. Instead, the AFC North-leading Cincinnati Bengals chewed Manziel up and spit him out. They taunted him. They crushed him. They flat-out embarrassed him. Yet I find it incredibly unfair and wrong that the news networks, specifically ESPN, have gone to the extent of questioning whether or not Johnny Manziel belongs in the league.

The Bengals smothered Manziel this past Sunday

You'll be very hard pressed to win games if your quarterback doesn't perform well. That's the nature of the sport. But at the end of the day it was Manziel's first career start. You don't think that playing a playoff team in front of your home crowd with the playoffs on the line would cause a hint of nerves? It was obvious Manziel wasn't used to the speed of the NFL game. Passing windows close up much quicker, your decision-making has to be quicker, etc. It's not a situation most quarterbacks can just walk into and immediately succeed in, especially a game as pivotal as this one. Why are "analysts" now questioning whether or not Manziel has what it takes to play in the NFL?

It was almost comical to watch some of the guys on ESPN talk about Manziel's performance. Merril Hoge had the quote of the week when he said that Johnny Manziel "has first-round hype with sixth round talent." You're going to say that after ONE GAME? Take a look at the quarterbacks in the past who had poor debuts: Joe Montana was 5-12 passing for 53 yards and no touchdowns, John Elway was 1-8 passing for 14 yards and an interception, and Peyton Manning threw one touchdown, three interceptions, and was sacked four times. In no way is Johnny Manziel comparable to these three Hall of Famers, but if you want to base a young player's forthcoming career off of his professional debut then you don't belong in the business. That quote from Hoge had more immature emotion in it than a 13 year old girl that didn't get asked to a junior high dance. Give me a break. There's no reason to be that extreme.

I'm still not Manziel's biggest fan. However, I can't help but feel bad for the guy for all the skepticism he's currently experiencing. Did he bring some of the expectations on himself? Absolutely. He's got a bit of an ego and at the end of the day he's a Heisman Trophy winner. His personality alone has brought on these sky-high expectations but to expect him to live up to them in his first game? That's the society we live in; there's no patience whatsoever and there is constant criticism whether it's warranted or not. It's not a mistake that Johnny Manziel is in this position. He's going to adjust to the NFL game and he's got the talent to excel professionally. It takes time. Everybody needs to stop freaking out and allow Manziel's career to unfold. He'll have another chance to prove himself this Sunday against Carolina.

Rose's Toughness Called Into Question

Derrick Rose is an individual that receives a lot of recognition on this blog as well as from the worldwide media. He is perhaps under one of the bigger spotlights in all of sports due to his continued recovery from two major knee surgeries. Fans questioned his toughness multiple times after he chose to sit out the entire season two years ago, and now here we sit, twelve games into the season, and Derrick Rose has missed seven of those games.

Rose has missed 7 of 12 games this season

There are multiple reasons for Rose's absence, the latest being a minor hamstring injury he suffered late in the Bulls' win over Toronto last week. While also receiving treatment for two sprained ankles, it's safe to say Rose has been battered and bruised in the first month of the season. Clearly he's not 100 percent and he's got his injuries that he's dealing with, but the worst part about all of this is that it seems the injuries are becoming a bigger deal than they should be. Derrick Rose needs to get back on the floor.


Obviously, there are two sides of the spectrum here. There are those Chicago fans that believe Rose should take his time and wait till he's fully recovered, and there are those that believe it's time to take the toughness up a few levels and play as soon as possible. While it's not exactly hard to realize the Bulls' organization is being cautious because they're paying Rose nearly 19 million dollars this year, it's also hard to accept the fact that they're comfortable paying him that much to sit in a suit and tie for more than half the games played thus far. Clearly if a player is injured then he should sit, regardless of who it is. Yet Derrick Rose is waiting till he's back to 100% with each setback he experiences. That's where the problem lies.

This is the NBA. You'd be hard pressed to find any player that plays a meaningful amount of minutes that's at 100 percent each night. This is the best basketball league in the world, you're going to have bumps, bruises, tweaks, etc. It's to be expected. This is the issue with Derrick Rose's absence. He has chosen to sit for three straight games now after he himself described the injury as minor. Is it so bad that he couldn't have given twenty minutes against Sacramento last night? There was no MRI needed, this is not a muscle tear, it's a minor injury that's causing Rose's mental, as well as physical, toughness to be questioned. And rightfully so.

Rose's health has never been the same since his first major injury

This is Chicago. This is where sports icons like Michael Jordan, Walter Payton, and Carlton Fisk have played and have emulated Chicago toughness to a tee. You battle through injuries, and you do what it takes to win. If that means giving what you can give despite a little discomfort then so be it. How can Rose sit in the same locker room with guys like Joakim Noah who played the entire playoff stretch two years ago with plantar fasciitis, an injury that ultimately ended the career of Yao Ming? How can Rose be okay with missing numerous games when Jimmy Butler has played through a sprained thumb and is now battling a shoulder injury night in and night out while still managing to play like the front runner for this year's Most Improved award? I understand that Noah and Butler haven't dealt with two major knee surgeries in back-to-back seasons, but if you want to win a championship, if you want to be great, if you want to back up the talk of bringing Chicago its seventh title then you have to play through a little pain. That's what the great players do.

Derrick Rose doesn't care what I, or anyone else, thinks about this situation and I respect him for that. I'm not jealous of him for having to go through all this speculation and doubt on a daily basis, but at the same time he has now brought this on himself. Hamstring, knee, and calf injuries are a part of coming back from the surgeries he has undergone, so why is this as big of a deal as he is making it? He's 26, obviously he doesn't want to jeopardize his career, and in no way am I saying Rose should be playing every single game, but there comes a time when toughness has to take over. I don't question Rose's dedication at all; he's done everything right in recovering from his surgeries. However, I am at the point where I question his toughness.

The Bulls have built a championship-caliber team around Rose. The organization underwent quite the makeover when they traded one of the best players to ever put on a Bulls uniform in Luol Deng and now they've added Pau Gasol along with picking up two rookies with a lot of potential in Doug McDermott and Nikola Mirotic. This is the Bulls year to win. They're a good team without Derrick Rose, but with him they're great. He is the face of this organization and they will go as far as he will take them. I understand the tweaks and soreness and I understand the fear of another major major injury, but it's time for Derrick Rose to toughen up.

Jeter's Departure Worth the Hype

As a kid growing up, the name "Derek Jeter" was commonplace, even renowned, in the game of baseball. The New York Yankees shortstop has been in the league for all but two years of my life and, as hard as it is to believe, his career is coming to a close. The season has been an emotional one for both Yankee and baseball fans alike, yet tonight will be the climax of the year with Jeter taking the field at Yankee Stadium one last time. With every road trip the Yankees have made, Jeter has been presented gifts from each ball club and has received a warm reception from most, if not all, fan bases across the country. While the hype surrounding his retirement has been a season-long deal, many people are beginning to be bothered by it. How? How can you possibly be bothered by the celebration of one of the best ballplayers to ever set foot on a field?


When I was little, Derek Jeter was that player whose batting stance you emulated. Derek Jeter was that player that you tried to  be like when you'd field a ground ball by jumping off one foot and throwing across your body. Derek Jeter was that player that you loved to watch simply because he loved to play the game and he played the game the right way. We've seen the highlights and we've watched him grow from the scrawny Kalamazoo kid into the first-ballot Hall of Famer. He has been consistent for just about his entire career and deserves every bit of the attention he's getting.

Jeter's hard-nosed play happened every single day

It doesn't make sense to be annoyed by Jeter's retirement coverage. It goes to show that in this day in age we as a society feed off the negative news rather than celebrating the positive news. For some people, Sportscenter's not as fun when they're not discussing Johnny Manziel's latest antics or talking about which NFL player was charged with assault this week. People love the gossip, they love the rumors and speculation, they love the negativity.

Maybe it's because the MLB has taken a backseat to the NFL and NBA recently. Interest in baseball has gone down and continues to do so. It's heart-breaking to say the least. For years the game was unclean and cheaters were easier to come by than guys who were playing the game the right way. Records were being broken but not with integrity. For these very reasons, Jeter has earned this kind of exit.

Jeter has given all of us an athlete that we can invest in. He has given us a role model that is consistent both at the plate and in his demeanor. He has given us a little hope that not every professional athlete is worried only about money. Derek Jeter is as classy an athlete as any of us will ever get the chance to watch. He has handled himself with professionalism and poise in a uniform that draws more criticism and hate than any other professional uniform in American sports, and that can even include criticism from the home crowd. I have been to Yankee Stadium and Yankee fans are as ruthless as any fans I have ever seen. They don't care that you're wearing the navy blue pinstripes, they care that you do your job and post a W. If they don't approve of your performance, they'll let you know. They're as faithful as any, but their respect has to be earned. Jeter did just that and then some.

Playing in one of the biggest cities in the world, under a spotlight few have ever known, Jeter never once took a day off from being a professional. You never saw him in the news for drugs, he was never assaulting women, and his name was never even dreamed of being linked to steroids. In a big market, on such a big stage, most would crumble under the pressure. Jeter welcomed it and used it to fuel what has been a magnificent career. He's tallied over 3,000 hits and could put a World Series ring on half of his fingers. He has won games with his bat, and saved games with his glove. But more importantly, he was loyal to the Yankees while doing it.

Perhaps Jeter's most impressive highlight, bloody face and all

Jeter was present for the turn over in the front office after George Steinbrenner passed away and he was there to see his manager Joe Torre retire. In professional sports today, players try to run coaches out or even try to have a hand in hiring a new coach themselves. #2 never made such moves. He was all in for the Yankees, he welcomed Joe Girardi and continued to be a leader. He never questioned his coaches or the front office, he went out and did his job. If more athletes carried themselves like Jeter then the light that's shed on professional sports would be a little more positive.

It's because of Jeter's integrity and hard-working nature that he will be greatly missed by the game of baseball. If you're tired of hearing about him, then you don't appreciate the greatness that is Derek Jeter. Whether he's the greatest shortstop ever will be debated by most, but the impact he had on the game should never be called into question. We have celebrated his career because of the way he carried himself and because of the way he has continually shown everyone how to be a role model and do things the right way. Watching Derek Jeter walk off the field for the final time tonight will leave a hole not only in the Yankees' lineup, but in the game of baseball. Thank you, Derek Jeter, for the all the memories and hard work. Here's to you, #2.