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Johnny Manziel dazzles at pro day, but is the sideshow too much?

Former Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel took the unusual step of wearing a helmet and shoulder pads at his pro day on Thursday.
(Patric Schneider / Associated Press)
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Johnny Manziel knows how to put on a show.

He wore a helmet and shoulder pads for his pro day Thursday at Texas A&M, something not usually done. The former Aggies quarterback enacted a pistol shoot to celebrate a long completion. He had his personal training coach chase him around with a broom to imitate the long arms of a defender.

But most of all, Johnny Football showed off his quarterbacking skills.

“My main thing was, I am not scared of anything. I don’t play that way on the field,” Manziel told NFL Network after the workout. “Why come out here in a scripted workout and be scared of anything?

“I just wanted to throw the pigskin around and have some fun.”

Manziel completed 62 of the 65 passes he threw, including his first 36. Two of the incompletions were catchable balls and the other was pulled in out of bounds.

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Johnny did a pistol shoot celebration after 50 yard completion.— Charean Williams (@NFLCharean) March 27, 2014

Of the 32 NFL football teams, only the Cleveland Browns and Chicago Bears did not have at least one representative on hand. The Browns, who are in need of a franchise quarterback, are said to already have a private workout scheduled with Manziel.

A total of 75 team representatives attended -- and they were only part of the gallery. Former President Geroge H.W. Bush, wife Barbara and their dog followed the action in a golf cart.

“What are we going to do without Johnny?” President Bush 41 just asked a Texas A&M staff member. pic.twitter.com/VkyYZCjD7t— Houston Texans (@HoustonTexans) March 27, 2014

Enjoyed being in College Station & watching @JManziel2 pro day... Just me & Prez Bush (& a few hundred other ppl)! Impressive pro day!— Kurt Warner (@kurt13warner) March 27, 2014

But for some it might have been a bit too much of a show.

General reax from NFL coaches after Johnny Day: He threw really well, but it was a spectacle. Heard words “Hollywood” and “sideshow.”— Lindsay Jones (@bylindsayhjones) March 27, 2014

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Mike Zimmer shrugged at Manziel’s workout: “It was different. It was a different workout.” Also called it a “sideshow.”— Charean Williams (@NFLCharean) March 27, 2014

But, overall, it seems Manziel made a good impression. And that’s all he wanted to do.

“I just want [NFL teams] to know that my focus is football,” he said. “This is my life, this is what I love to do. I have never been more dedicated or more committed in my entire life.”

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