Johnny Manziel and the Raven

First things first. Here's a shout-out to a certain lady that has recently checked out my lunacy in this forum. She's known as the Raven and hails from North Carolina -- not far from Charlotte. Serious NASCAR country. Always did have a thing for southern girls. They get my motor red-lining every time I hear their drawl. What a fine upstanding southern belle like the Raven could possibly find interesting in my rants would seem to be a mystery. But it is hoped yours truly can hold her interest for a while longer. Perhaps even nevermore. And feel free to quoth me on that. Besides, she promised me lunch. Hold the grits, please. I suspect even the deep, dark Edgar Allan Poe would have cowered when confronted with a bowl of that stuff.

Now Texas A&M quarterback, and last year's Heisman trophy winner Johnny Manziel is front and center in the sports news. Evidently, for all the wrong reasons.

Well, let's see. He tweeted something negative about his school a while back. My answer? Who cares? This is America. He can pretty well say whatever he wants. And besides, those who live and die by tweets issued by others should really consider getting a life.

Johnny Football pled guilty to a misdemeanor charge of being involved in a bar fight a few years ago. Answer? This is a big deal? When I was his age, it was the rare exception NOT to get into a scuffle once in a while.

Manziel left the Manning quarterback camp early. So what? It's not like he deserted and went over to the other side while in the military. Peyton and Eli may very well be field generals on the gridiron, but I'm pretty sure they don't have the power and wherewithal to confine someone within one of their camps. Manziel could come. He did. He could go. He did, when he felt like it. This is a big deal?

Ah, but now the talking heads are all a-twitter over Manziel possibly making money over autographing football paraphernalia. The dreaded NCAA infraction committee is looking into it. Early unsubstantiated reports (sound familiar?) have it that Manziel might have agreed to a 5-figure deal with a shady character to provide his John Hancocks. Well, that shouldn't be too hard to check out. Unless he's got a whole lot of Ben Franklin's stuffed in a coffee can or buried in his back yard, one would think bank records would quickly tell the story.

Here's what people tend to forget. Manziel comes from a rather well-to-do family. Do they hand out penalties for that these days too? A while back, the media made a big deal over Manziel sitting courtside at an NBA playoff game. Some of those idiots still do. If they'd have looked a little deeper before their usual hatchet jobs, they'd have discovered his parents provided him with the ticket. Maybe his parents should be water-boarded for having the financial means to give their son a present.

Yours truly has no idea where this whole latest investigation will go, but one thing strikes me as odd.

Why would Manziel put his college career in jeopardy, and likely fall far down the NFL draft boards next year, when a 5-figure payout would seem to be chump change to his family in the first place?

Something is wrong with this picture. And I think it just might be the media propaganda.