EDITORIAL: Our congrats to Johnny Football and the Aggies
Wednesday December 12, 2012
Our sense of fair play compels us to congratulate Texas A&M University quarterback Johnny Manziel on winning the Heisman Trophy, college football’s top honor, even if some of us predicted the Aggies would be delivered up as mincemeat pie upon their recent abandonment of the Big 12 for the Southeastern Conference. Turns out a whole lot of us were wrong — and not just in Central Texas.
Even so, this supreme honor for “Johnny Football” proves one thing beyond Aggie determination in a stunning 10-2 season that only the most faithful predicted. It proves there’s a whole lot of football going on in Central Texas, considering then-Baylor Bears quarterback Robert Griffin III claimed this very honor for Waco fans only a year ago.
That suggests our stretch has some strong collegiate coaches, players and, if Griffin is right, fans whose faith in their teams is pretty solid.
And certainly it yields dividends. Various reports indicate that Baylor has seen a 10 percent rise in giving to the Bear Foundation and licensing royalties are up more than 50 percent. And, of course, Baylor now is building a $250 million football stadium.
Manziel reportedly garnered 474 first-place votes from sports reporters and former Heisman winners. Notre Dame lineback Manti Te’o finished a distant second, with Kansas State quarterback Collin Klein coming in third. Baylor disciples can take some special joy in Manziel’s win since their upset victory over top-ranked Kansas State a few weeks ago may well have knocked Klein out of what some suspected was a lock on this year’s Heisman.
But forgive us if we suggest our hometown team may actually have helped Manziel and the Aggies in some small and admittedly unintentional way. Our congratulations to the young Aggie freshman, his coach and his teammates are no less sincere, especially considering how wildly unexpected all this was to the naysayers among us a year ago.
