Johnny Football has the NBA’s attention

In a 12 month span, Johnny Manziel went from a young quarterback playing in the heart of Texas to the globally known sports figure he is today.

Commonly known as Johnny Football, the 20-year-old QB for the Texas A&M Aggies has captivated the attention of many in the sports world, including the NBA and its players.

Millions will tune in Saturday afternoon as sixth ranked Texas A&M will square off against number-one ranked Alabama in a highly anticipated match.

Johnny football is too tough, how can you not like him?

— Kevin Durant (@KDTrey5) September 14, 2013

Rooting for Manziel seems like the popular thing to do. In sports, fans are attracted to greatness and a little luck, look at Jeremy Lin. Coming from Harvard, which isn’t a basketball school by any stretch of the imagination, Lin struggled to find a home in the NBA. He bounced around the league for several years until he found a spot on the Knicks roster. Eventually, he was given a chance – not only to play – but to play a legitimate role on the team.

Johnny Football hasn’t fully experienced the life of rejection, but he’s still conquered his critics. He has less-than-ideal height, shows arm strength and fatigue issues and many wonder about his maturity. Although, that hasn’t stopped him from winning just about every college football award there is.

To date, Manziel has built a nice résumé: 2012 Heisman Trophy winner, 2012 Davey O’Brien National Quarterback Award winner, 2012 Manning Award winner, 2012 First-team All-American by eight major publications, 2012 Sporting News College Football Player of the Year, 2012 SEC Offensive Player of the Year and 2012 SEC Freshman of the Year among others.

Other NBA players took to Twitter about today’s game: