After Johnny Manziel received a 15-yard penalty for taunting after pointing towards the Kyle Field scoreboard on Saturday against Rice, much has been made about how Manziel was perceived to have ignored Texas A&M coach Kevin Sumlin after he returned to the sideline following the penalty.
How dare Manziel show up his coach like that. He needed to politely and humbly nod and say "Yes sir" towards Sumlin, right? Or maybe not. On Tuesday, Sumlin said that the idea that Manziel ignored him is rubbish. Why? Because of what Sumlin said to him.
"When he came off the field, I basically made two statements to him, neither one of which should he have responded to," Sumlin said at his weekly media gathering. "They weren't questions. They were direct statements and I can't repeat them right now. What's amazing to me is the perception that he ignored me. The worst thing that could have happened was for him to reply based on what I told him."
Manziel received the penalty after jawing with defenders following a touchdown. After serving an NCAA suspension in the first half of the game for the investigation into allegations he accepted autographs for cash, Manziel entered at the start of the second half and tossed three touchdowns to put the game out of reach. (And no, the taunting penalty was not the first incident of jabbering back and forth with defenders.)
If you've played sports -- or heck, even been admonished by your parents -- you learn pretty quickly when is and isn't an appropriate time to respond after a tongue lashing. Manziel chose not to respond, and that was probably the best idea.
Had responded, just think of the attention he'd get for having a discussion with his coach rather than simply walking away. If people thought the latter was usurping authority, imagine the former. But such is the life of Johnny Manziel, the most polarizing figure in college football.
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