The Dallas Cowboys and Johnny Manziel.
Man, oh man, one of the biggest what ifs in franchise history. I still remember that moment in the iconic 2014 NFL Draft when the Cowboys were on the clock. We didn't know at the time that Stephen Jones was pushing Jerry Jones to the wall of the War Rom and snatching the draft card from his hands to avoid Manziel to arrive to Dallas.
To this day, I can swear I saw Roger Goodell fight back a smile instants before reading out loud Zack Martin's name. Goodell was probably wondering just as millions of NFL fans if the Cowboys would do it. Surely, Jerry wouldn't be able to pass on such a huge splash. He probably loved the kid's talent and the fact that he was a Texas football legend already. Well, it turns out Manziel loved him too
In the latest episode of Club Shay Shay, Shannon Sharpe interviewed Manziel, who didn't take long to respond to Sharpe's question when asked which team he wanted to be drafted by.
"Probably Dallas," Manziel told Sharpe. "I loved Jerry, I loved getting a chance to go to sporting events in that stadium and cross circles with him. I loved getting the opportunity as a college Texas A&M kid to walk into that box and rub shoulders with the honcho, the guy. (...) and I remember the anticipation in Radio City when that pick was coming up, and I had my fingers crossed under that table the entire time. 'Please let me go put that star on my helmet."
In hindsight, a much more mature version of Manziel than we knew back then believes it was for the best as he explained with a painfully honest confession.
"Looking back now, thank God that it didn't happen because I wouldn't be sitting here today," Manziel added. ""I think knowing what I was doing in Cleveland, how hard it was for me to party and move and do these kinds of things, if you would have put me in a landscape of that was my backyard that I knew, you know, I had been driving from College Station up to Dallas when there was nothing going on in College Station, right? So, it was something I was familiar with."
Manziel's off-the-field issues have been well documented, including through a 2023 documentary which revealed he viewed zero tape with the Cleveland Browns as a rookie and went to the Scouting Combine while under the influence.
"I know who I was hanging around at that point in my life, and I think it would have been just an absolute disaster to the point of, um, it wouldn't have been suicide that would have been the issue, it would have been drinking and driving, it would have been taking a bag from somebody you shouldn't take it from, and just boom, could have been over in an instant," Manziel added.
"So, I think I know myself well enough to be able to say that it would have been bad in its own right, and luckily, thankfully, you know, it didn't happen, even though at that time it's what I wanted."
Whatever your opinion of Manziel is, you've got to respect the self awareness and maturity it takes to be able to look back in such a tumultuous time in his life and break it down with such clarity.
As we all know now, the Cowboys and Manziel never happened. For a long time, we thought that was a good thing because the franchise would've been stuck after that pick. But now we know that was great for other, more serious issues.
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