"I sat, it was like...": CFB sportscaster reflects on how Johnny Manziel's documentary shows the importance of a great QB
Former Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel was recently the focus of the latest documentary in the Netflix series "Untold." College football analyst Matt Barrie shared that the doc reminded him how important the position is on "The Matt Barrie Show":
"The Johnny doc did, as I sat there, I was like, you know what, how important is a great quarterback? How important is a quarterback to the success of your school?
"We've seen it – Joe Burrow, LSU, Stetson Bennett out of Georgia – we've seen this year in and year out. Some of these players, they come in. It's a quarterback. It's lightning in a bottle. They ride that quarterback to what they need to ride it to, and they ride off into the sunset."
Check out Matt Barrie's comments on Johnny Manziel below (starting at the 13:36 mark):
Manziel was able to instantly change the Texas A&M Aggies fortunes as they improved from 7-6 to 11-2 in his first season under center. Despite finishing the 2011 season and entering the 2012 season unranked, the Aggies finished fifth in the final AP Poll, handing the eventual champion Alabama Crimson Tide their only loss of the season.
How did Johnny Manziel perform in his college career?
Johnny Manziel joined the Texas A&M Aggies as a four-star prospect in the 2011 recruiting class. After redshirting his true freshman season, Manziel took over the starting quarterback role in 2012.
Manziel finished the year with 3,706 passing yards, 26 touchdowns and just nine interceptions. He completed 68.0% of his passes while adding 1,410 rushing yards and 21 touchdowns on 201 carries.
He became the first freshman in NCAA history to win the Heisman Trophy. Manziel also won the Davey O'Brien Award and Manning Award as the nation's best quarterback. He was named AP College Football Player of the Year, Sporting News Player of the Year and Southeastern Conference Offensive Player of the Year. Manziel was a consensus All-American and named first-team All-SEC.
He followed that up by throwing for 4,114 yards, 37 touchdowns and 13 interceptions in 2013. Manziel completed 69.9% of his passes while adding 759 rushing yards and nine touchdowns on 144 carries. He finished fifth in Heisman Trophy voting and was named first-team All-SEC.