Don't Blame the Media!!!

When I was a college football player, our sports information director, Bill Turnage opened every season by telling us "Never again will you be 'Joe Moore'. You will now be known as 'Mules football player Joe Moore'." So when I see stories in the USA Today about Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel and his offseason arrest for disorderly conduct and presenting false identification, I can't help but think "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!?!?!" (If you haven't read the article, you can find it at:
http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/sec/2012/11/27/johnny-manziel-texas-am-heisman-trophy/1729957/
Now, to be fair, I don't know all the details of Manziel's arrest.  According to George Schroeder's article in USA Today, Manziel (then 19) was at an off-campus nightspot when one of his companions called a a 47-year-old man a racist slur.  Manziel stepped between the men and that's when the fight started.  He then presented a phony driver's license to the police, who also found another fake ID in his wallet.
The story also reports that Manziel's mother was surprised at how quickly the news spread, stating "(Johnny) thought nobody would know about it."  As any good mother would, Momma Manziel pointed out to her son that he, as a college football player, is different.
If only he had listened to my good friend, Bill Turnage!  Now, to his credit, Manziel has not blamed the media in breaking the news.  Perhaps that's because he has become only the fifth person in NCAA history to pass for 3,000 yards and rush for 1,000 in a single season.