Texas A&M Finally Lets Johnny Football Talk

Johnny Manziel—though he has a really cool nickname, and though he led his team to an upset of top-ranked Alabama, and though he is putting together one of the all-time great individual seasons—remains something of a mystery to college football fans. This was in part due to Texas A&M coach Kevin Sumlin's policy of not allowing freshmen to speak with the media,. Earlier today, Manziel finally had his "Garbo speaks!" moment, participating in an hourlong teleconference with the media. He didn't say anything of interest, though USA Today informs us:

Reporters on the call praised Manziel afterward, commenting on Twitter about his thoughtfulness, poise and eloquence while answering questions for the first time.

"I don't know if there's anything I've been dying to say," Manziel said of the no-media policy. "Whatever Coach Sumlin's policy was, I was going to respect that. I trust that he knows what's best for me and the whole team.

He did not add that the policy is "one of those weird, infantilizing, control-freak things that coaches love to do." And he did not say, "If Coach Sumlin thinks I'm mature enough to get chased around a football field by the Crimson Tide defense, then I'm probably ready for the beat guys from the Houston Chronicle, too." But nobody's perfect, not even Johnny Football.