BEREA, Ohio -- There might not have been a "Johnny Football" if there was not Nick Saban and the University of Alabama football team.
Two years ago this November, a little-known freshman quarterback named Johnny Manziel led the Texas A&M Aggies into Tuscaloosa, Alabama, for a battle with the Crimson Tide. In front of 101,821 fans at Bryant-Denny Stadium, Manziel engineered a 29-24 upset of the nation's top-ranked team and defending national champion in a game that proved to be his launch to becoming the first freshman ever to win the Heisman Trophy.
And as the Aggies prepare to again play the Crimson Tide in Tuscaloosa this weekend, Manziel, now the Cleveland Browns' rookie quarterback, reflected on what that game meant to his football career.
"Looking back at that day now, it's really such a blur, but it's the day that changed my life forever," Manziel recalled. "I know going into that game what my level of stardom was, very, very small, still gaining a little bit of national attention, and then, after that game, coming out of the locker room to the buses was really one of the craziest experiences that I've ever really dealt with.
"From then on, we finished out the year on a winning streak and got a chance to go to the Cotton Bowl and win that game as well, so that really turned the page in my whole life."
Playing at Texas A&M was such an important experience for Manziel, that when the Browns had a bye week earlier this season, he flew home and attended their game against the University of Arkansas at AT&T Stadium in Dallas.
"It was great to go back and be in a stadium that means a lot to me," Manziel said after returning from the trip to Texas. "Obviously, I had a lot of fun playing in there. It was good to see them pull out a victory against an SEC team, any game in the SEC West this year is going to be really, really tough.
"It was a lot of fun. It was great to be back, great to see my family, my mom and dad and sister and Ms. (Lee) Hoodbeing on the sideline with me while I got my ring. Getting presented my Aggie Ring, it's a huge accomplishment really at Texas A&M.
"For me to get my ring, get my 90 hours and get closer to graduating is a big step for me, and at the same time, to see all my friends back in College Station coming up, see Kenny (Hill), see Joe Cheek, see all those guys that I played with the past couple years and really came in with to A&M, it was really cool."
Manziel acknowledged that although he is getting to live his dream of playing in the NFL, the time he had at Texas A&M was special to him.
"I don't think I miss school, but I miss those guys in the locker room," Manziel said. "I miss Coach (Kevin) Sumlin. I think it's fair for me to say that I miss college life, but this is the decision that I made, and I knew very well going into the draft last year that it was going to be different for me and going to be a time for me to grow up. That's the path I chose, and if I wanted to stay in college and sleep in and go to class and horse around like I was doing the past couple years, then I should have stayed."
