“Out Of Jail” And “Off Twitter”: OU DC Mike Stoops Offers Advice To Johnny Manziel, Then Apologizes

January 12th, 2013 11:16 AM║ Posted By: MrSEC.com ║ Permalink ║ Schools: Texas A&M
Tags: Cotton Bowl, Johnny Manziel, Oklahoma City, OU

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From gratuitous insult to late-night apology, the age of instant media was on full display Friday.

It started on an Oklahoma City sports talk show where Sooners defensive coordinator Mike Stoops was the guest. Stoops had some glowing comments for Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel and his performance in the Aggies 41-13 Cotton Bowl victory. “I’ve seen a lot of football players play a lot of different styles with guys, but never seen anything like that in my whole life.”

But Stoops decided to ratchet things up a notch and that’s where it got interesting.

“They’re gonna be tough to deal with. If they can keep him out of jail or keep him eligible, he’s gonna be pretty good.

“If they can keep him off the Twitter, he might win three or four Heismans. He’ll have that type of ability.”

As expected, the twittersphere/blogosphere exploded and the comments went viral. Stoops comments alluded to an incident over the summer where Manziel was charged with disorderly conduct and having a fake drivers license and some photos on his Twitter account where Manziel hasn’t been shy about celebrating the good life in the wake of his Heisman Trophy win.

News of Stoops’ comments apparently made its way to Manziel who posted a picture and a note on Twitter:

“Great visit to the hospital today in Connecticut made a ton of new friends. Hopefully this picture passes compliance..”

By late night Friday night, Stoops was backtracking. Through an OU spokesman, Stoops wanted everyone to know he had the “utmost respect for Texas A&M and Johnny Manziel.”

Manziel, it should be noted, had 516 total yards against Oklahoma in the Cotton Bowl, including an FBS bowl record 229 rushing yards.

You can listen to a podcast of the interview here. The part about Manziel is at the end.

4 comments

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Fayettechill14

Since Manziel was arrested last summer and is an arrogant jerk on Twitter, I see nothing wrong with Stoops' comments. He's exactly right.

Manziel is an incredible player, but I really hope Chris Smith or Trey Flowers lights his world up in Fayetteville next fall.

GeoffDawg

@Fayettechill14 The comments may or may not have had some degree of accuracy but they were still inappropriate in the context of the interview. Stoops was asked about the Cotton Bowl loss and took it upon himself to talk trash about the kid regarding issues unrelated to the game. When said kid just kicked your butt, it's going to come across as you being a sore loser.

JeffMcCartney

@Fayettechill14 pssssshhht. jealous much bro? hawgs won't even slow that kid down next year

Fayettechill14

@JeffMcCartney Haha. Probably a little bit. Manziel is one of those guys that when he's on your team you love him because he's freakishly athletic and arrogant. But when you have to face him you hate him for the same reasons.

Ryan Mallett was a lot like that. If he had played for LSU or someone I would have loathed him. Bobby Petrino was the same way. Arkansas had a freak QB named Matt Jones (2001-2004) that was like that as well.