Johnny Manziel has been the center of a heavy amount of media attention ever since breaking onto the college football scene in 2012. The Heisman winner has recently been the subject of multiple news stories that are attempting to find a flaw in the quarterback. As Texas A&M enters into spring practice with a greater amount of expectations surrounding them, Manziel is making attempts to eliminate everything but football from his life. As a result, Maziel has quit Twitter, claiming social media is a distraction.
"I've kind of shut it all off. With how the media has been with me for a while, I just shut everything off. As of Monday, I said I was done with Twitter for however long. It's fun to have, but it can get to be distracting at points," Manziel said.
Since winning the Heisman and leading the Aggies to an 11-2 season as a first time starter, Manziel has been living under a microscope. He has tweeted nearly 3,000 times and recent photos have caused a stir with fans. He was photographed on spring break wearing a Texas Longhorns tattoo. He was also photographed sitting courtside at a Miami Heat game, causing many to cry foul to the NCAA. Everything made its way to social media.
The most recent controversy came Saturday when reports surfaced that Manziel shoved a Texas A&M graduate assistant. Manziel had just thrown his third interception of the scrimmage and took his aggression out on the assistant. Both Manziel and his teammates said the incident was overblown.
"I'm surprised to see how the attention has continued through the offseason. I guess I thought it would die off and slow down a little bit, but it really hasn't," Manziel said.
Texas A&M is trying to capitalize off their new superstar. The school's athletic department is planning a $480 million expansion to Kyle Field. It would be the most expensive stadium expansion in college football history. The project would increase the stadium's capacity to around 102,000. University of Tennessee has the largest stadium in the SEC, seating a capacity of 102,455.
As of now fans can say goodbye to @JManziel2. The quarterback's 332,000-plus followers will have to find a different way to follow Johnny Football's every move.