Never mind that the biggest and most-anticipated game of the early part of the college football season is on tap for Saturday, one of the key figures involved in it won’t be taking part in the buildup.
That’s right. Reigning Heisman winner Johnny Manziel will not be available to media in the days leading up to the coming showdown this weekend between No. 1 Alabama and No. 6 Texas A&M in College Station.
According to George McMurphy of ESPN, Manziel was advised by his attorneys and his family not to do any talking this week. A&M officials have complied with that request and they informed the media on Tuesday that Manziel was not available. And just to show that it wasn’t a case of selective enforcement, Manziel won’t be talking to ESPN or CBS, which will televise the game (CBS will overload us with Johnny Football anyway -- it has a ‘Johnny Cam’ set aside just for him).
At this point, we should be used to Manziel not talking. For the last week or so we’ve heard little from him or about him in the media, so maybe his strategy of trying to lay low is working. And it’s not like there won’t be plenty of other ways to hype up this game.
But for now, Manziel will let have to let his play do the talking.