Manziel legend grows even more vs. Bama

On Saturday Johnny Manziel was sublime, posting one of the greatest individual efforts in college football quarterbacking history.

I know, I know. Alabama won, and for the bottom line crew out there, winning and losing is all that matters. Football's a team game, and Alabama's team is better than Texas A&M's team this year just like it was last year. But most of us don't watch football for methodical, robotic dominance. We watch sports because we just might see something transcendent.

And Manziel was transcendental, otherwordly. He sliced and diced Alabama's defense like it had never been done before in the proud history of Crimson Tide football. He tore apart a Nick Saban defense like it had never been destroyed in the storied history of Nick Saban's long coaching career of defensive dominance.

For months we'd talked about how Manziel would respond now that Nick Saban had months to prepare for him. For thousands of hours Saban schemed ways to stop Manziel.

And on Saturday, despite all his efforts, Manziel was even better this year than he was last year.

Yes, Texas A&M lost, but in the process Johnny Manziel further burnished his legendary and mythical status.

They'll be talking about Johnny Manziel in Texas and beyond until long after every person reading this column today is long gone.

Not bad for a Texan 20-year-old with a football in his hand.

Sure, there's a segment of conservative white America that wanted to see Johnny Manziel humbled, wanted Nick Saban and his rigorous process to knock the crap out of this cocky, audacious pipsqueak of a quarterback who dared to speak out of turn and freelance and sit courtside for NBA games and hang out with the rapper Drake and not genuflect at the false altar of forced sporting modesty.

I suppose these people have their own reasons. Lots of us crave law and order and the tamping down of individuality. We all bring our values to sports, and for conservative fans there's a "right way" and a "wrong way" to play football. And Johnny Manziel plays "the wrong way." The subtext here is clear: He's too uppity and needs to be shown his place by a conservative society.
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