We've been told that Texas A&M's Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback, Johnny Manziel, has been made well aware that his actions off the field can't escape public scrutiny. Not in the age of cell-phone cameras, social media, and the public thirst for all things Johnny Football.
On Saturday, Manziel will contend with the same type of scrutiny on the field, as well.
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CBS, which will broadcast perhaps the most-anticipated college football game of the entire season when defending national champion Alabama visits the Aggies, has chosen to keep a camera focused on Manziel's every move. Between the sidelines or otherwise, according to SI.com.
"No matter where he is and no matter what part of the game it is, we will have a shot of it," said CBS Sports executive Craig Silver. "If he is anywhere in sight of that camera, we will catch it.
That means everything from hand gestures, as Manziel displayed against Rice, to sideline demeanor, to interaction with teammates. And whether that type of coverage is over the top or not, CBS is at least being up front about it. It's not as though the network is trying to catch the quarterback unsuspecting like a bar fly with a cell cam. In fact, the network has even requested that Manziel be present in its production meetings this Friday in advance of the broadcast.
Johnny may not like the camera on him all the time, but at least this time, he knows about it ahead of time.
As for the NCAA investigation into whether Manziel profited from his autograph in violation of NCAA rules, CBS won't be making that a centerpiece of the broadcast.
"By the time we get to kickoff, this thing will have been talked about ad nauseam throughout the sports world," Silver added. "We are not judge and jury. It is not our place, especially within the body of the broadcast, to state whether he should or should not be playing, should have been suspended or should not have been suspended."
Follow Chase Goodbread on Twitter @ChaseGoodbread.
