Living It Up
Johnny Manziel's wild party pics make waves, but Heisman winner insists he'sstill a small-town guy
TMZ published photos of Johnny Manziel partying with a bottle of Dom Pérignon ata Dallas nightclub Avenu Lounge.Johnny Manziel/Twitter
After posting this on Instagram, Manziel tweeted, "Nothing illegal about being18+ in a casino and winning money...KEEP HATING!"Johnny Manziel/Twitter
To say that Johnny Manziel has had an impressive year would be an understatement. Beginning the 2012 season — Texas A&M University's first in the SEC — as a redshirt freshman, the 20-year-old quarterback quickly earned the nickname "Johnny Football," led the Aggies to an upset of No. 1 Alabama and a Cotton Bowl romp over Oklahoma, and became the first freshman to win the Heisman Trophy.
After a hard-fought season, you'd think that the guy deserves to have a drink without drawing scrutiny.
"It's tough knowing that everything you do is watched pretty closely, because I'm doing the same stuff I've always done," Manziel told reporters.
But on Sunday, TMZ published photos snapped of Manziel post-OU win, a Burberry scarf around his neck, a sparkler in one hand and a bottle of Dom Pérignon in the other. As the gossip rag writes, "Manziel hit up Avenu Lounge in Dallas and as you can see in the pics ... he rather enjoyed himself."
"It's tough knowing that everything you do is watched pretty closely, because I'm doing the same stuff I've always done. It's just now people actually care what I do," Manziel told reporters on Sunday.
Among the things that people have cared about include fraternizing with scantily clad coeds at a Halloween party, scoring courtside seats to a Dallas Mavericks game and winning big at a casino.
"I'm still the same small-town guy I've always been," said Manziel, who grew up in Kerrville. "For people to recognize me everywhere I go now and how much notoriety comes along with this, it's been beyond my wildest imagination."
