Let's be clear on something: Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel isn't a bad guy.
He didn't shoot anyone -- unless you count the six touchdowns he scored against SMU. He hasn't been arrested for beating up his girlfriend. There are no DUIs, battles with the NCAA or scraps with the FBI. There's nothing crazy happening with Manziel other than the fact he's a high-profile 20-year-old in a Facebook and Twitter world.
Manziel made news again when he departed the Manning passing camp after what camp officials described as an illness and Manziel's father described as "dehydration." Yes, his father said "dehydration."
What I can tell you is that the NFL has been watching Manziel closely. Not in an NSA monitoring sort of way, but in a curiosity sort of way. There has been a great debate in professional football since Manziel hit the scene, and that debate is a simple one: Will he be able to play in the NFL?
That debate remains, but another is also forming -- an unfair one, I believe: Does he have the maturity to play in the NFL?
One scout put it best: "Johnny is suffering from being in the Age of Hernandez."
This is what he meant (and I've heard this from other NFL team personnel over the past few days). The allegations against former New England Patriot Aaron Hernandez have rocked the NFL far more than the league or teams want to admit. It's believed that teams will now be so overly cautious that players will pay in the draft for even the silliest of things.
"What this means is that this coming season is his biggest," said the scout, who has watched Manziel extensively. "Not just on the field but off of it.
"Scouts want to see if he's matured."
Of course this is unfair. Manziel is 20. Think about all of the immature things you did at 20. Think about all of the immature things some have done at 40. Think about all of the times you were "dehydrated" when you were a 20-something. Think about all of the times you were "dehydrated" now.
But this is the new world. The Hernandez world. Every hiccup, every act, takes on meaning now. Things that would have been ignored in the past like "dehydration" now take on more relevance. Again, this is stupid. This is unfair but this is what the Hernandez case has wrought.
What the belief in the NFL is that Hernandez has hurt all college prospects, maybe for some years to come, because the microscope has gone sub-atomic. Miniscule mistakes become enlarged and small errors in judgment, even when you're a college kid, may now stick. Those mistakes will coalesce faster and stronger in the files of NFL teams.
Some will say this has long been the case, but that would be wrong. The Hernandez case has pushed the sport to another level of player scrutiny.
Scouts have been wondering about Manziel's maturity for some months now. When Manziel had a Twitter rant it raised some eyebrows across pro football but mostly shrugged shoulders. Now that rant is tossed into the hopper with other Manziel-isms.
It's unfair and silly, but in the Age of Hernandez, this is how it is. This is how it will be.
