APThings are moving fast for Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel. Six months ago, Manziel was just a redshirt freshman starting his first college game against Florida. Now, he’s the reigning Heisman Trophy winner and will undoubtedly have the largest target on his back when the 2013 season starts up next fall.
It’s no surprise then that Manziel is already thinking about his future. Speaking with reporters Tuesday following A&M’s practice — something he wasn’t permitted to do for much of last season — Manziel confirmed that he and his family are looking into securing an insurance policy in the event of an injury that would prevent him from playing in the pros.
“We’re currently in the process of doing that,” Manziel said. “It’s just a precaution. I think there’s a lot of players who have done it in the past and you never know what could happen. Football is a dangerous sport, so you kind of have to make sure that you take a precaution in that regard.”
Manziel added he didn’t know how much the policy would be worth.
He’s certainly not the first player to ever take out a policy, but it’s a bit baffling to think he could be entering the NFL draft one year from now. Following the 2013 season, Manziel, a redshirt sophomore, will have completed three years of college. That’s enough to technically make him eligible to depart.
Or, he could stay another two years if he wanted. Manziel hasn’t tipped his hand on what his future plans are and there’s really no way of knowing right now, but he’ll surely be asked about it this upcoming season. A lot, probably. That’s part of the territory for him now. So far, he’s handled the frenzy well. I wouldn’t expect this year to be much different.
(Hat tip: Sam Khan Jr., ESPN’s RecruitingNation)
This guy likes to party and will be rich. I say, 100 percent he’s entering NFL draft next year.
He’s gone after this year. Once he realizes the longer he stays in college the more the media will pick his game apart and drop his draft status he won’t want to go through it a second year in a row.
An insurance policy is a good idea, Johnny.
I agree with bmore44 that Johnny will go to the NFL draft next year. If he does, I will miss him playing against SEC teams, but I hope I can see many of the games he plays in the NFL. Quite an athlete, quite a player. QBs with styles similar to Johnny’s are doing well in the NFL and I would think there will be many team jockeying for position to draft him.
He needs an insurance policy in the NFL as well since the first few years of salary are not major, until he can get into the salary negotiation or free agent territory.
The amount of hype surrounding this kid is absurd. No way he will be able to live up to it. No way.
I think he is a great college qb but I don’t think he is a certain starter in the NFL yet. I’ve definitely been wrong before.
He’s a different breed of cat, that’s for sure.
I’m just afraid he will play not to get hurt next year, instead of doing what he does, which is run, and throw on the run.
Don’t you have to stay for three years? Isn’t Jadeveon Clowney having the same problem?