Johnny Manziel And His Fast-Growing Legend

Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel made the 11th-ranked Oklahoma Sooners look like a high school team. He dazzled, danced and scrambled in the pocket as if he were playing 7-7 pickup football in the summer.
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Texas A&M's Johnny Manziel (2) reaches the end zone for a touchdown as Oklahoma's Frank Shannon (20) and others give chase in the first half of the Cotton Bowl NCAA college football game Friday, Jan. 4, 2013, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
Texas A&M's Johnny Manziel (2) reaches the end zone for a touchdown as Oklahoma's Frank Shannon (20) and others give chase in the first half of the Cotton Bowl NCAA college football game Friday, Jan. 4, 2013, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

Electric.

Magic.

Sensational.

That is what the show Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel put on Friday night against Oklahoma looked like. His 229 rushing yards set the Cotton Bowl record for a quarterback. He made the 11th-ranked Oklahoma Sooners look like a high school team. He dazzled, danced and scrambled in the pocket as if he were playing 7-7 pickup football in the summer, totaling over 500 yards and four touchdowns. The Aggies' 41-13 victory wasn't even that close.

Perhaps the legend of Manziel is only in its infancy, but the Heisman Trophy winner -- still just a redshirt freshman -- has already established himself as one of the most exciting college football players ever. Forget, for a moment, the unparalleled numbers and all of the accolades; Manziel is just the type of scintillating talent that you can't stop watching. He is so fast and so smooth that the only comparison is to a video game. Robert Griffin III was like that last season at Baylor, and he was a senior.

It's what Manziel did against top-ranked Alabama earlier this season that birthed his legend. While it remains far too early to make a prediction on the remainder of his career, he's the rare young talent who might become the first collegian since Archie Griffin (at Ohio State) to win multiple Heismans.

He stands a few shades below 6 feet, so we can talk all we want about how Manziel isn't the classic drop-back passer and how he won't succeed in the NFL. But what would be the point? We can even debate whether or not his pro position will actually be at quarterback, but then again, where's the fun in that?

Manziel plays with the type of wondrous, reckless abandonment very few possess. He's 20 years old, is very likely getting better and, potentially, will go down as one of the greatest college football players in history. In 2013, Texas A&M has eight home games and just four road games. Maybe he wins a national title and maybe he doesn't, but Manziel's legacy has already been cemented. Enjoy him and relish him for as long as you can.

He is, simply put, Johnny Football.

Email me at jordan.schultz@huffingtonpost.com or ask me questions about anything sports-related at @Schultz_Report.

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