Johnny Manziel grateful to Russell Wilson for killing height bias
By Mike Dyce
The prototypical size of an NFL quarterback is 6’4″ and any player under 6’1″ is considered short. That is one of the hurdles for Johnny Mazniel who says he’ll come in at 6′ flat.
“I’m going to measure 6 feet — I’m 72 inches on the dot,” Manziel said, via John McClain of the Houston Chronicle. “If they want to try to jump on my shoulders and squish me down, it’s not going to be any less than that.”
If he does go number one overall, he has one person to thank for breaking the stigma of short quarterbacks, Super Bowl winning Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson.
“I think he’s kicked the door wide open,” Manziel said. “You’re seeing more guys being successful avoiding that first wave of pressure — get out and do things outside the pocket.
“Wilson does some things he’s not asked to do, when things don’t go exactly as scripted. He’s able to extend the play. One reason they were so successful early in the Super Bowl was that he was 4-of-5 on third down and was able to continue to push the ball down the field and get them where they needed to be.”