Is the Media Being Too Hard on Johnny Manziel?

I had an interesting conversation with a couple of friends of mine about Johnny Manziel.

Both of them blame the media for Manziel's overexposure. 

They think that the media is overreacting to the actions of a 20 year-old who is just enjoying his life. I, on the other hand, blame Manziel.

I understand he is a young college kid enjoying the spotlight as most 20-year-olds would do, and I have no problem with that.

What I have a problem with -- and a lot of my colleagues have a problem with -- is the whining he has done through social media about how hard it is to be him when he brings a lot of this stuff on himself.

No one told him to leave the Manning Passing Academy to go to New Orleans, party, and get kicked out later for not making it to meetings the next day and then drag his friend and fellow QB, AJ McCarron, into his mess. 

No one told him to get into fights at bars in College Station and almost get kicked off the football team.

No one told him to complain on Twitter about a lousy parking ticket and then complain later how he is ready to get out of College Station.

Nope, that was all Johnny Manziel. As someone pointed out, it's not the fact that people have a problem with his partying; the issue is he can't seem to find balance in his life. At least when Ken Stabler and Joe Namath paritied, they didn't carry it on the field with them.

They still won games and found that balance between football and a social life.

We'll see if Johnny Football will find that balance in time, too. If he keeps winning ball games, no one will care what he does off the field, but he has to continue winning first.

The first time Texas A & M drops a game due to Manziel, all hell will break loose in College Station. Then we'll see how much that "I'm just a 20 year-old" excuse is going to hold up.