In a survey completed this week, only 49 percent of respondents indicated they found Manziel appealing, significantly lower than the 87 percent average for the 1,400 athletes tracked. Data from a survey conducted in January 2013, just after Manziel’s Heisman win, shows 97 percent of respondents found him appealing. While Manziel suffered a decrease in appeal of 50 percent during the past 8 months, the survey also showed his awareness went up 67 percent during the same time period.
When asked to choose from a list of attributes describing Manziel, respondents selected rude, 27 percent; overexposed, 43 percent; and insincere, 19 percent. These numbers increased dramatically from the prior survey, which showed the number of respondents selecting those attributes as being significantly lower (rude, 2 percent; overexposed, 5 percent; insincere, 5 percent).
E-Score surveyed 1,100 persons with general representation across income, age, education and geographic demographics to represent a cross-section of the U.S. population.
It’s pretty clear that Manziel’s image has taken a hit as the result of his off-season antics, but I find it interesting that the biggest complaint is about him (43 percent) is that he is ‘overexposed.’ That could’ve been the case even if he wasn’t seen as having a slew of negative qualities. It’s why I thought Manziel couldn’t win another Heisman and probably why a guy like Andrew Luck never did either. Sometimes people just get tired of hearing about a guy and the reaction is to look elsewhere for relief.