Cleveland Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel talks to reporters on the eve of the first practice at the NFL football team's training camp in Berea, Ohio Friday, July 25.The Associated Press
They came to see what he's all about, to see if Johnny Football can be the one to lead the Browns back to glory.
On Saturday, Manzielmania grew even bigger.
With No. 2 jerseys ringing the field, celebrated rookie quarterback Johnny Manziel began his quest to win Cleveland's starting job.
Strutting onto the field with his usual swagger, Manziel is taking part in his first NFL training camp practice and thousands of fans have arrived to get an up-close look at the 21-year-old sensation who electrified college football with his uncanny playmaking. Fans began lining up outside the Browns' training complex at 5 a.m. to secure the closest possible spots near the practice fields.
Manziel, the former Heisman Trophy winner who was drafted in the first round by the Browns, walked out of Cleveland's locker room at 9:22 a.m. as House of Pain's "Jump Around" blared through loudspeakers.
On Friday, Manziel, who will battle Brian Hoyer to be the starter, acknowledged he made "some rookie mistakes" with an off-season filled with partying.
He vows to be all about football now, and his every move will be dissected over the next few weeks as he and Hoyer compete.
Hoyer took the first reps with Cleveland's starting offence, and his first pass was a completion to wide receiver Austin Miles.
Manziel was behind centre a few plays later, and after dropping deep in the pocket, his first pass attempt toward the sidelined sailed long, beyond the outstretched hands of receiver Charles Johnson.
The incompletion didn't discourage the many Manziel fans, who are confident he can make the Browns winners.
"I loved watching him play in college," said Sam Wilson of North Canton, Ohio, who came to camp with his girlfriend, Savannah Meadows. "I think he's kind of a football genius and I think he'll turn it around. I have faith in him."
Not everyone came out to see Manziel throw the ball.
"I just think he's really cute," Meadows said.