Johnny Football. Johnny Starter.
Call him what you want, but they both apply to second-year Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel right now. Friday, the day he was named the Browns' starter for their Week 2 matchup against the Titans, the Texas A&M product took a shot at one of his biggest critics, ESPN personality Merril Hoge, during an interview session.
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"Johnny isn't there something inside you that makes you want to shut up people like Merril Hoge?", a reporter asked.
Manziel, who went 13-of-24 yards for 182 yards, a touchdown and an interception, and rushed for 35 yards in a 31-10 loss against the Jets, had no problem taking the bait.
"I think Merril Hodge needs to worry about his big-necked ties more than anything, Manziel said. "Talking about Merril, he's been that way since I decided to come out into the draft. So, like I said, it's really part of it. But no, no extra motivation or extra bump for me or anything like that. It's just go out and play, and quiet him with the way we go out and ion Sunday. That's what we wanna do."
Browns QB Johnny Manziel addresses ESPN analyst Merrill Hoge's criticism. #Browns pic.twitter.com/0HWH9Rpe5I
— Hayden Grove (@H_Grove) September 18, 2015 For those who may not remember, Hoge once said whoever drafted Manziel should be fired, adding the former Heisman trophy winner had sixth-round talent and first-round hype.
You can watch Hoge go in on young Jonathan in the nearly seven minutes in the clip below. And, yeah, Hoge has one of those big-necked ties on.
If Manziel continues to ball out, we may have to start calling him "Johnny Comeback" for more reasons than one.