There wasn’t a dry eye in the house as you could feel the groundswell of emotion in what people are calling the feel-good story of 2014. Everybody in attendance from boxing champion Floyd Mayweather to host Drake, and the annoying nerd from The Big Bang Theory were moved to tears when it was announced that Johnny Manziel had won the ESPY for Perseverance.
Every year, ESPN awards one amazing athlete the ESPY for Perseverance because of his or her ability to defy the odds. Previous recipients fought back from serious illness or a tragic accident. Other recipients played an entire season through unbelievable adversity. However, none of those people could hold a candle to the man who was able to hang like a rock star in Vegas getting drunk on the back of an inflatable swan, all the while never missing a single OTA.
Critics said it couldn’t be done. Old timers who didn’t know any better felt that Johnny Football was putting himself before the team. No way could he remain focused with his hard-partying lifestyle. Well, the former Texas A&M Aggie who once boldly walked into a UT Frat house looking to party never missed a single practice.
Furthermore, the quarterback who recently announced, “I want to wake up with a week and not have my name going through something” was successfully able to rally with Justin Bieber and exchange supermodel brunette girlfriends all while only throwing three interceptions during 11 on 11 drills this off-season.
Although there was no guarantee that Johnny Football could become a back-to-back Perseverance award winner next year, early season ESPY handicappers were quick to point out that as long as Johnny made it back from Distortion in Copenhagen in time for the preseason and didn’t miss any second string reps before he left for the Electric Light Daisy Festival, then the award was in the bag.
