By JOHN E. HOOVER Sports Columnist on Dec 29, 2012, at 11:49 PM Updated on 12/29 at 11:49 PM
GAME POINT
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ARLINGTON, Texas — Johnny Manziel was standing in the very, very back, behind almost everyone.
Dressed in Texas A&M/Cotton Bowl warm-ups, he also wore these semi-funky designer-frame glasses, almost like a disguise, standing on the edge of the walkway and chatting with Oklahoma quarterback Drew Allen.
Maybe the disguise worked. Everyone walked right past the Aggies quarterback without looking twice.
Physically, Manziel is not an overly impressive specimen. Allen, at 6-foot-5, towered over Manziel, who might actually be an even 6-foot. The guy doesn’t exactly draw a crowd (though one of the Kilgore College Ranger spirit squad appeared to have stars in her eyes).
Seated in front of us at the 50-yard line inside Cowboys Stadium were scores of media, members of both the OU and A&M teams and the official travel parties of each school. On the battleship-sized video board, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones was about to begin a special Cotton Bowl presentation.
After saying hello to Allen, I stepped in front of the incognito Manziel and introduced myself.
He couldn’t have been nicer.
I introduced my family — son, daughter, wife — and he smiled, shook their hands and seemed every bit as interested in them as they were in him.
I congratulated him on his fantastic season and on winning the Heisman Trophy, then told him I was a Heisman voter for the last 15 years and that this year I had gladly accepted the privilege of becoming Oklahoma’s state representative for the Heisman Trophy Trust. I also told him I have met something like 30 previous Heisman winners and that I believe he embodies the very essence of the award and that he was a most worthy winner.
Manziel thanked me, shook my hand again, smiled, shook his head as if he couldn’t believe his good fortune, and humbly told me he appreciated it very much.
Then we took our seats and for 30 minutes or so fixed our gaze on the colossal TV hanging from the ceiling.
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