Manziel Trying To Change Image For Draft

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Former Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel is trying to rebrand himself as he prepares for this year’s NFL Draft, and that process includes distancing himself from his “Johnny Football” moniker.

Manziel became a celebrity on the College Station campus his freshman season and was known as Johnny Football, a persona he initially embraced. He developed into the most publicized and scrutinized college athlete — perhaps ever.

Manziel struggled at times last season while trying to win a second straight Heisman Trophy award.

His image took a hit last year when he left the Manning Passing Academy early after oversleeping and missing a morning meeting last summer. The NCAA suspended Manziel for the first half of Texas A&M’s season opener against Rice after he was investigated over accusations that he took money for autographs (the NCAA found no evidence).

“I was a kid who made some goofball decisions,” Manziel said this week in

interviews with the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and Houston Chronicle. “That’s been part of my journey. Maybe it’s part of the whole Johnny Football deal that I’m trying to get away from. I feel like if I don’t put myself in any of those situations, then I can’t get blamed for it. If I’m not in the neighborhood, and I’m in the house, nothing can be said about me. …

“I want to own up to that. I don’t want to hear that, ‘Oh, anybody in his situation would have been doing the same thing.’ I’m 100 percent responsible for my actions. I made those goofball decisions knowingly. I got the consequences that come for it. Just like you make any decision in life, you have your pros and your cons for what’s going to happen. I live with that. I’ve tried to move on from it and tried distance myself as best as possible.”

Manziel still holds out hope of being taken No. 1 overall in the draft, saying he really wants to meet the owner and new head coach of the Houston Texans, who hold that top selection.

“Bob McNair and Bill O’Brien,” Manziel said. “Those are the two guys I really want to meet.”

Manziel, a redshirt sophomore, threw for 7,820 yards with 63 touchdowns and rushed for 2,169 yards with 30 TDs with the Aggies.