It’s a good thing for Johnny Manziel that Barry Switzer isn’t the general manager of the Texans. It’s a good thing for the Texans, too.
After saying earlier in the week he thought the Texas A&M quarterback — and potential top overall pick in this year’s NFL Draft — was “an arrogant little p–ck,” Switzer managed to make matters worse Friday.
While apparently attempting to compliment Manziel during an interview with Nashville radio station WNSR, Switzer — who was the head coach with the Cowboys and University of Oklahoma — fueled the controversy by adding he needed his quarterbacks to be great runners: “I’ve always said I’d never recruit a white quarterback. The only way I’d ever recruit a white quarterback to play for me was if his mom and daddy would have to both be black, and that’s the only way I would do it.”
He then went on to list off some of the black quarterbacks he coached in college, including Jamelle Holieway and J.C. Watts, leaving out Troy Aikman, who is white, and played at Oklahoma before transferring to UCLA. Aikman also played for Switzer in Dallas, where they won a Super Bowl together.
Aikman responded on Twitter:
Despite the criticism of Manziel, who left Texas A&M a year early to go pro, Switzer insisted he liked him as a player.
“I would go to Johnny and I would spend time with him,” Switzer said, “and I’d find out and base my decision on what he has to say in my interview and my gut feeling about him then.
“This guy has got a little crap in his neck, but I’ve had a lot of renegades … every football team does. That doesn’t mean he ain’t going to be a good player and help win you some championships.”