Photo: ea.com
Doug Flutie on Johnny Manziel's true Heisman candidacy
By Gabe Bock
November 14, 2012
Notes from Doug Flutie interview
* He remembers playing at Kyle Field in 1982, and that game was his first real introduction to the atmosphere of college football. He believes that back then, A&M wasn’t used to seeing passing teams, and his Boston College squad was able to take advantage of that to get the win in Jackie Sherrill’s first game as head coach of the Aggies.* Johnny Manziel is a really special player. He loves watching Manziel play the game partially because Manziel reminds him of himself, even down to his on-field mannerisms. He works at the desk with Hines Ward, and watching Manziel play reminded both of them of plays he made while with the Buffalo Bills. While they are both quick and can make guys miss, Manziel is flat out faster than he ever was.
* He always paralleled himself with Fran Tarkenton, and the comparisons between Manziel and himself and Tarkenton are very accurate. The ability to be able to stay behind the line of scrimmage and wait for the opportunity to make a big play is extremely valuable. Manziel takes that ability to a whole different level because of his ability to pull the ball and run at any given moment.
* Johnny Manziel may be the best player in college football, and he is currently in his top three of his Heisman ballot. The one thing that may hurt Manziel in the Heisman race is regional voting. A guy like Kenjon Barner could steal some very valuable first-place votes from people out on the West Coast which could pull Manziel’s total points down.
* Being a freshman doesn’t influence the voters so much as the fact that being a freshman keeps them from finding out about him until the season is nearly over. When he won the Heisman, he had previously finished third in the voting during his junior year. Sometimes it takes that run in the year before to grab the attention of the voters for an entire season.
* A&M has been a very physical team this year. The victory over Alabama wasn’t entirely because of the offense, and in fact, it was the defense that played a complete game from beginning to end. The defense was able to give A&M the ball back on multiple occasions which was key to the Aggies’ success. Football is the one sport where one guy can’t win a game for you. One guy can give you a chance at victory, but the sport is a team game like no other.
* He loves A&M having success with their offense in the SEC. He has been so tired of hearing from all the SEC elitists that there was only one style of football that was going to win you national championships. He loves A&M stepping into the conference and sticking to the people that say the spread can’t work at the highest level.
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Discussion from...
3:53p, 11/14/12
I think regionalism can actually help Johnny. We get a lot of exposure in the midwest and southwest because of where we are geographically located, but we also get a lot of exposure in the southeast because we are in the SEC. JFF may run #2 or #3 to Klein in the midwest (where people are less likely to know about Barner), but he will be #1 on a lot of people's ballots in the southeast. Barner may get #1 votes on the west coast, but a lot of people in the east don't see west coast games because of the time differential and he will likely lose out on the #2 and #3 votes to Braxton Miller and Klein. JFF can also pick up at least some votes on the west coast because our games are earlier and at least get some sort of mention during the later games in the west. JFF may not get the first place votes in the west, but he can dip into higher votes in multiple regions, whereas Barner and Klein may not be able to.
5:39p, 11/14/12
I was at that 82 game. My first football game as a freshman at A&M.
Beat the Hell out of BC!
Beat the Hell out of BC!
10:07p, 11/14/12
Doug Flutie was one of the most exciting college players I witnessed in that era, similar to Manziel today. Lit up ESPN highlights like his daddy owned the network. True competitor.
10:08p, 11/14/12
His last comment about our offense working in the SEC is exactly the way I've thought all along. My lsu workmates told me you couldn't pass and win. Ha.
10:47p, 11/14/12
Is there one specific webpage where we can direct everyone that shows all his stats, articles promoting him, highlight videos, and awards that he has already won, and records that he has already broken. Can everyone access it and not have to search through a bunch of message boards? Concern by what he said. Might be smart not to force promotional material but provide access to the stats, highlight videos so that they have easy access to it!
10:47p, 11/14/12
Haha the 82 game...How cute it sounded at the time...some boys from Boston were coming down to play ball in Texas. I thought we'd give em a polite yet firm lesson in how the game is supposed to be played (I mean everyone knows Tx is the home of football and Boston is the home of effete eggheads)
I became a fan of Flutie that afternoon...he tore us a new one. What an athlete tha guys is/was.
Thumbs up for Flutie!
I became a fan of Flutie that afternoon...he tore us a new one. What an athlete tha guys is/was.
Thumbs up for Flutie!
5:39a, 11/15/12
"His last comment about our offense working in the SEC is exactly the way I've thought all along. My lsu workmates told me you couldn't pass and win. Ha."
What he meant (even if he didn't know it) was s "WE can't pass and win, so obviously you can't either. Because the idea that you might bring a passing attack like this conference has never seen is too horrible to contemplate."
Hehe.
What he meant (even if he didn't know it) was s "WE can't pass and win, so obviously you can't either. Because the idea that you might bring a passing attack like this conference has never seen is too horrible to contemplate."
Hehe.
9:00a, 11/15/12
I like how he admitted they played in very similar fashion, but that Johnny was far faster than he making him a threat to go the distance at any given time.
9:23p, 11/15/12
Is there an update on the status of getting the issues fixed with the videos? i tried to watch and it stopped every couple of seconds.
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2:13p, 11/16/12
I guess if you have slow Internet, you need to hit play and then pause it immediately to let the video build.
2:22p, 11/16/12
If you look at Flutie's rushing stats, it's actually pretty shocking how little he ran the ball. He used his feet primarily to extend the play, not to advance the ball.