Texas A&M QB Manziel accepts O'Brien

Johnny Football still finds time to be a college student too, even though the Texas A&M star doesn't have to be on campus very often for classes. His schedule this semester consists of four online classes in sports management, and he just got done with a series of tests and other work.

"Had my first round of tests last week, so I've been kind of pushing that off as much as possible doing my online stuff, and all three tests and three papers hit me in a week," Manziel said Monday night before accepting the Davey O'Brien Award that goes to the nation's top quarterback. "It was good to feel like a normal student again, just a busy one."

Manziel was initially enrolled in an English class on campus this spring with only 20 to 25 students before switching his schedule.

"I didn't think anything of it, and it kind of turned into a little more of a big deal than I thought," said Manziel, the first freshman to win the Heisman Trophy.

While Manziel is having a good time, doing things other 20-year-old college students do — or would envy doing — the scrutiny he faces can be frustrating.

"I know plenty of friends who went down to Mardi Gras to New Orleans and other guys who went to the Super Bowl too," he said. "I was down there with other college football guys too, so I don't know, people like to give me a hard time more than others. There's college kids doing what I'm doing all around the country. People just think I'm going wild with it, when it's not like that."

Manziel is definitely under the microscope after leading Texas A&M to a Cotton Bowl victory and becoming the first Southeastern Conference player with more than 5,000 total yards in a season.

For those who wonder if Manziel's adventures fall within NCAA rules, he stays in touch with compliance people at Texas A&M to clear things in advance. Two weeks before the Super Bowl, for example, he let them know who he was going to the game with, where he was staying and how he was paying for everything.