Texas A&M Aggie Johnny "Football" Manziel First Freshman to Win Heisman? Dan Rather Says Yes!

Johnny "Football" Manziel - Dallas Morning News Pic

Dan Rather is Back! Well, sort of.... -

Texan Dan Rather, whose long career as a journalist (that included being the face of CBS 60 Minutes) ended in shame due to a false report about President George W. Bush's National Guard Military service, has endorsed Texas A&M Quarterback Johnny "Football" Manziel for Heisman.

I know, you are scratching your heads right about now. What is Dan Rather doing getting involved in something like this? Maybe he is trying to win back favor from his fellow Texans who were embarrassed that he was from Texas after he was fired for lying about our former Governor and Texan U.S. President Dubya.

Dan Rather endorsed Manziel during an interview with www.TexAgs.com. Dan Rather is a graduate of Sam Houston State University and the interview was done right before the Texas A&M vs. SHSU football game.

The interview did include more than just football talk. My favorite part of the interview was when Dan Rather talked about how he worries about there being a lower standard in journalism due to the digital era and new technologies that get news out on the internet faster than ever before. Yeah, Dan Rather worrying that journalism standards have lowered gave me a chuckle too.

On a different note though, Dan Rather endorsing someone in the Heisman Trophy race is not all that unusual considering the politics behind football. Last year I wrote an article (Texas A&M has Fired Aggie Football Coach Mike Sherman - Will Politics Decide Next Coach?). The article was about how politics and money play huge roles in Football in Texas. Big, influential donors can threaten to stop giving money to a school if the donor thinks the school needs a new football coach. Politics plays a bigger role in football than people think. When Texas A&M was talking about moving from the Big 12 to the SEC, the Texas Legislature called a meeting to discuss the implications of a potential move. Members of Congress have called for investigations into the BCS because it does not have a playoff system and less well known football teams can go undefeated and still miss out on the BCS Bowl money. There is a 4 team playoff coming soon though because of the opposition to a team getting picked as the national champion when there is no playoff to prove who the true best team is out of the top teams. People call the BCS Football National Champion the "Mythical National Champion."

Politics aside, Johnny Football really is the best individual player in College Football, and in the history of College Football for that matter, and therefore he should win the Heisman. Politics has kept the Heisman voters from wanting to pick a Freshman to win the award, but if there is any freshman deserving of winning the Heisman it is Johnny "Football" Manziel.

I am not saying this just because I am a graduate of Texas A&M University. I am saying this because the Johnny "Football" Manziel statistics are just mind blowing, and just think how much more mind blowing his statistics would be if he played full games this year (Manziel sat out for 8 quarters this year to let other Aggie Quarterbacks get some play time in the blowout games!) Move over Vince Young, Texas has a new star! Manziel's ability to make big plays has even led the Aggies to a top 10 BCS ranking, an elite team in the SEC, and a win against #1 Alabama.

Don't believe me? Check out the incredible Johnny "Football" Manziel statistics for yourself here: http://heisman.aggieathletics.com/

Then, after you have seen the stats of Johnny "Football" Manziel, you can see how his stats compare to recent Heisman Trophy winners like Tim Tebow and Cam Newton here: http://heisman.aggieathletics.com/stats.html

Oh, and for good measure, check out the video below to see some of Johnny Football's greatest moments.

Finally, remember when I said that politics plays a big role in Football? Well, that is one of the reason's I wrote this article. Part of the politics of winning the Heisman is that your chances go way up if you can win the battle of getting the most hype and news coverage. So Go Johnny Football! Represent the Great State of Texas! You were, after all, a product of Texas Friday Night Lights. A Heisman win for you beings good media coverage and money into Texas.

Texas A&M has Fired Aggie Football Coach Mike Sherman - Will Politics Decide Next Coach?

Texas A&M has Fired Aggie Football Coach Mike Sherman. Politics and money play huge roles in Football in Texas.

For example, when Texas A&M was considering moving to the SEC, the Texas Legislature (which I am sure had other things on its plate) called a meeting to discuss the issue. That is how influential football and politics are on each other here in Texas
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There are many reasons why politics plays such a huge role in Texas College Football.

1) Many Texas Politicians went to the big Texas Football Schools like Texas A&M and the University of Texas. When something is going on, like a coaching change, they want to have their say.

2) Money. College Football in Texas brings in lots of cash to the Texas economy. When something involves lots of money in Texas then it is going to involve politics. The move to the SEC will actually bring more money to Texas, in my opinion. Having big football schools like Alabama, LSU, Georgia, etc. coming to play at Texas A&M will bring in an entirely new, and big, source of revenue to the State that the State does not currently get.

3) Big donors have political friends. Big donors help pay for college football needs. When the football team is not doing well then the big donors want to see a change (like a coach getting fired). When a change happens, the big donors want to play a role in deciding how to fix things and who gets hired. They hold this leverage because they give big money to the school and they have big political friends.

It will be interesting to see how backroom Texas politics and money will play a role in the selection of a new coach for A&M.

I recently wrote an article regarding the question of whether or not Texas A&M will fire Mike Sherman after posting a record of only 25 - 25 after 4 seasons. This last season under Sherman was considered as one of the biggest failures in recent history because of the tremendous potential and expectations to start the season. Most of the games lost this year could not be understood. First half double digit leads followed by second half collapses that Sherman could not do anything about.

The wait is over. Earlier today I learned from Texags that Coach Sherman had been fired.

AggieAthletics.com reports that A&M Athletic Director Bill Byrne has not selected an interim coach for the Aggies for the possible bowl game. It is rumored that University of Houston's coach, Kevin Sumlin, might be considered as a possible new coach to lead Aggie Football in the move out of the Big 12 and into a new conference, the SEC (Southeastern Conference).