Johnny Manziel has enough on his plate as a rookie NFL quarterback who seemingly needs a little counseling of his own at times. But the former Texas A&M star nevertheless wants to be a mentor for Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston when it comes to dealing with the pressures of being a returning Heisman Trophy winner.
"It's heavier than the trophy is itself," Manziel said of the burden, according to the Twitter feed of The Associated Press' Tom Withers.
The trophy, for those wondering, weighs 25 pounds. That's a lot of expectations.
Manziel would certainly know something about it, having spent a tumultuous post-Heisman year at A&M that included a great deal of scrutiny for a star player who found various ways to lead a very public night life.
Winston is dealing with plenty of scrutiny, too, and it's only increased with each of the third-year sophomores public embarrassments. Most recently, Winston was suspended from FSU's game against Clemson, which the Seminoles only narrowly won without him, for shouting obscenities while inside the FSU student union.
NFL scouts had already seen enough immaturity from Winston to question his candidacy as an early entrant for the 2015 NFL Draft, suggesting instead that he return to FSU for at least another year of maturation.
One went so far as to call Winston a fraud, which isn't far off the scouting reports that Manziel's polarizing personality drew in the months leading up to the 2014 draft.
So, Manziel can certainly relate.
"He's a guy I want to help in as many ways as I can," Manziel said Friday.
Winston, of course, is also being mentored by Buffalo Bills quarterback and former Seminoles teammate EJ Manuel.
But to get through to Winston, it apparently takes a village.
*Follow Chase Goodbread on Twitter **@ChaseGoodbread*.
