Kirk Herbstreit: Manziel is the "dumbest player to ever play college football" if he sold his autographsJon Solomon | jsolomon@al.com By Jon Solomon | jsolomon@al.comAugust 13, 2013 at 3:41 PMBIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- The allegations that Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel sold his autographs for money are "either the most far-fetched story I've ever heard of, or he's the dumbest player to ever play college football," ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit said in an interview today.Herbstreit, a former Ohio State quarterback, said players know from the time they're recruited they cannot be paid. Manziel's radar should be even higher after winning the Heisman Trophy, Herbstreit said."It's mind-boggling that he would walk into a room with these memorabilia people that he doesn't even know and be willing to sign things and allegedly be paid," Herbstreit said.Herbstreit said he hopes the stories about Manziel -- first reported by ESPN's Outside the Lines aren't true -- and added "it would be a real tragedy" if college football didn't see Manziel play in the Alabama-Texas A&M game on Sept. 14.The Manziel saga, along with active lawsuits against the NCAA, has brought new attention to the issue of whether players should be allowed to profit off their name while in college. Herbstreit isn't in that camp, saying he believes payments would create problems among teammates.Herbstreit said he could support a $500 cost-of-attendance stipend to players each month, allowing schools to pay for players' families to attend games, and creating a fund for players to receive royalties on jerseys after college. He doesn't want active players to have control of their autograph."A recruit could go visit Auburn and they'd say, 'If you sign autographs, we'll get you $5,000 a showing,'" Herbstreit said. "Then Alabama will say, 'Only $5,000? We'll give you $10,000.' It would be crazy to control. It would be the wild, wild West."The scrutiny of Manziel could impact the SEC championship picture. Herbstreit predicts an SEC Championship Game rematch between Alabama and Georgia. But he cautioned not to sleep on LSU, which is "a lot better than people are giving them credit for."Herbstreit's past SEC predictions: Auburn vs. Florida in 2010 (Auburn was correct); Alabama vs. South Carolina in 2011 (both teams were incorrect, although Alabama won the BCS title); and Alabama vs. Georgia in 2012 (both teams were correct).Herbstreit said a key for Alabama is watching whether its offensive line can retool and still be as cohesive and dominant. Alabama has seemed immune to complacency since 2010, but that's always a question for teams on top, he said."When you're Alabama, everybody wants to beat you," Herbstreit said. "If you let off the accelerator one week, you can look up in the fourth quarter and you're down three. Are they still hungry and can they stay driven?"At Auburn, Herbstreit believes junior-college transfer Nick Marshall will be the starting quarterback. "From people I've talked to, he's a pretty dynamic athlete," Herbstreit said. "It takes that kind of guy to run Gus Malzahn's offense."But Herbstreit sees a bigger need for Auburn than the attention focused on quarterback: Producing an elite defense again."Auburn has not had an SEC defense in three or four years," Herbstreit said. "Having (defensive coordinator) Ellis Johnson, who's kind of an old-school SEC guy, is a great step. Even the year they won the national title, they were a good defense, but they weren't great. You almost have to go back to 2008 when Auburn had a great defense."Malzahn's first year will be less about the number of wins and more about returning to respectability, Herbstreit said."Like the way they played LSU last year," he said. "They lost 12-10. That was a very competitive game. The crowd was in the game. They were proud of the effort of the team. They need to play like that every week."
Agree on the agreeance. I heard this morning that another memorabilia guy came forward and JFF could have signed as many as 4,400 autographs.....out of the goodness of his heart.
What if Manziel comes out and states that AJ McCarron hooked him up with those brokers and says that he (AJ) got paid X amount for his autograph.
Snitches get stitches.
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