Just talk: Johnny Football finally speaks to media: Georgia QB shuts up in advance of SEC title game

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Johnny Manziel actually was allowed to speak to the media today. And guess what? He seemed to enjoy it.

The Texas A&M quarterback has been off limits during his freshman season. He wasn’t even made available for ESPN’s Gene Wojciechowski when he came to town to do a segment on Manziel for College GameDay.

From the AP story:

Manziel said he respected coach Kevin Sumlin’s decision for him not to speak to the media this season because he’s a freshman. But says he’s happy to have a chance to talk about this season.

“It’s kind of nice now to be able to kind of let you guys know how I am a little bit more,” he said. “There’s so many question marks out there.”

Later he said:

“I’m a small-town kid,” he said. “I come from Kerrville, Texas and I still see myself that way. I don’t see myself as Johnny Football, I still see myself as Jonathan Manziel, a small town guy from Kerrville who is extremely fortunate and extremely blessed to be able to play football here at A&M.”

The session didn’t seem too taxing for Manziel. I’ve always thought these coaches go too far in shielding their players from the media. The vast majority are more than capable of handling the demands.

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Georgia quarterback Aaron Murray has been one of the Bulldogs’ most accessible players. That is until this week. Murray won’t be meeting with the media in advance of Saturday’s SEC title game against Alabama.

From the AP:

The school said Monday that Murray met with coach Mark Richt and got permission to be relieved from his media responsibilities leading up to the Southeastern Conference championship game between the third-ranked Bulldogs (11-1) and No. 2 Alabama (11-1).

One of his best friends, linebacker Christian Robinson, said Murray simply wants to make sure his entire focus is on beating the Crimson Tide.

“I don’t think this has anything to do with the media,” Robinson said. “I don’t think he’s trying to send message. It’s just something he decided to do this week as far as being prepared.”

Again, would it have been so hard to do one 20 minute session with reporters? I think Murray draws more attention to himself by snubbing the media. It becomes a story that didn’t need to be there.