Overwhelmed by the national recognition, Johnny Manziel said he never thought a kid from Kerrville could win an award like that. He kept repeating how blessed he was as he struggled to process how much attention he was getting.

That was two years ago, when he was named a Parade All-American at Tivy High School.

Manziel's life has changed since he got to College Station, but he'll likely say the same things if he wins the Heisman Trophy tonight. He's still a shocked kid from the Hill Country.

Since his first game in a Tivy uniform, Manziel believed he was the best player on the field and has yet to be proved wrong. But it still came as a bit of a surprise, even to him sometimes, when his confidence matched reality.

Manziel's parents no longer have to correct announcers on the pronunciation of his last name. He won't be passed over for a football event again, like the time the U.S. Army All-American Bowl selected six area players but not Manziel.

Until this fall, though, America has been conditioned to set expectations accordingly for a 6-foot-1, 200-pound quarterback who plays recklessly and lacks those recruiting measurables.

Despite his 155 total high school touchdowns, he was often an afterthought in recruiting conversations. Steele running back Malcolm Brown and Madison's Aaron Green were the reasons college coaches were coming to the San Antonio area.

Manziel said back then that Brown would be the area player winning a Heisman.

The ones who wanted Manziel the most at quarterback were then-Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh and Oregon's Chip Kelly. Harbaugh had Andrew Luck at the time, and another Houston-area QB, Darron Thomas, was leading Oregon to the BCS title game.

Somehow, coaches in Texas weren't seeing what Harbaugh and Kelly did.

Manziel played it off publicly, saying he was honored to be recruited by the schools that did want him. But he turned the perceived slight into motivation in a Jordanesque way. Two of his best high school games came against Green's and Brown's teams. Tom Rossley, then Texas A&M's quarterbacks coach, was on the sidelines when Manziel threw for 504 yards against Madison.

The Aggies came around, Manziel switched his commitment from Oregon to A&M, and Johnny Football would soon become a trademark application.

Johnny Football didn't start at Tivy because he wasn't just a football star there. A baseball player and golfer who could have started on the basketball team or been a track star if he had the time, Manziel was the Express-News' all-around boys athlete of the year as a junior. At one point or another in his Tivy career, he was the Antlers' best running back, wide receiver, defensive back, punter and kick returner.

The only thing he didn't do — as evidenced against Sam Houston State this season — was kick extra points.

Now that he sports SEC records, it has validated those high school moments that sounded like tall tales. He once scrambled for 15 seconds before throwing a pass at Tivy, which lost its mythic appeal when he dropped back for 12 seconds before throwing a TD against Missouri.

Today, reality might catch up to Manziel's confidence. He might be able to admit that he knew he could be the best player in college football the whole time.

When Manziel switched his commitment from Oregon to A&M, the location was far and away his biggest reason. His family wouldn't have been able to move to Eugene like they did to College Station.

But there's another difference between the Ducks and Aggies. At Oregon, he could have thrived as a system quarterback in one of football's best offenses. At A&M, he could fulfill the dream of every small-town Texas quarterback.

He could become a legend.



Twitter: @mysahighschools