Mother writes Johnny Manziel a “frank” letter
By Mike Dyce
In an open letter on her blog, Beth Bates (of Johnny Manziel’s hometown of Kerrville, TX) writes about watching the game with her son and watching Manziel taunt opponents, trash talk and ultimately get a unsportsmanlike conduct penalty late in the fourth quarter that led to Coach Sumlin benching him.
She writes about how she had to explain his behavior in the game and the challenges that Manziel faced in the spotlight.
“My 6th grade son teaches me a lot about life,” Bates said. “And even after today’s game he sees redemption for you. As I sat, as a very frustrated fan and mom, watching you trash talk and wondering if you’ve learned a single lesson lately… as I sat (ok, I don’t sit. I walk around as much as coaches and talk at players like you can hear me) and told you to get the chip off your shoulder and just play… I listened to my son see the good.
“He still sees (as America does) what a tremendous athlete you are. He still sees that you’re not just good at football, you have a gift. He still sees that Tivy High School Senior that came to his elementary school and worked with some of the kids during PE. And he talked about it today, with a little disappointment in his voice because of the choices you’ve made recently.”
Those choices include a slew of poor decisions in social media postings, NCAA suspensions and being asked to leave the Manning’s summer camp. That Manziel isn’t the Manziel her son met at a local restaurant during his high school days.
“But besides the games, unfortunately, we’ve also watched the mistakes in the public eye,” Bates said. “How can we miss them? Until recently, you paraded them around on social media as if you felt you were untouchable. And that’s led us, and many other parents I’m sure, to have hard conversations with our son.
“Conversations that talk about character being more important than fame. Conversations about your true worth not being found in your athletic ability, but in your daily actions that define you as a person. Conversations about the responsibility that comes with success and fame. Conversations about how you are a great athlete, but not a great role model.”
She also gives him advice ranging from refocusing on his faith and remembering that “little eyes” are watching him.
“It’s not too late to right the ship. It’s not too late to sit down with your family, your coaches, your teammates be accountable and be the leader you were created to be.”