Esteemed actor and legendary Friday Night Lights coach Billy Bob Thornton declared former Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Johnny Manziel will be "a beast" in the NFL.

Thornton told TMZ Sports he's certain all the 21 teams that passed on Manziel before the Cleveland Browns nabbed him with the No. 22 pick in last week's NFL draft will come to regret doing so.

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"I wasn't so big on the Johnny Manziel thing when he was in college," Thornton admitted. "But I think in the pros, I think he's gonna do better than they think."

Few can deny Manziel's brilliance during his time at Texas A&M, where he passed for at 3,700 yards and 26 touchdowns in back-to-back seasons and in his 2012 Heisman winning season became just the fifth player in NCAA history to throw for at least 3,000 yards and rush for another 1,000 in the same season.

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Since the Brown selected him, enthusiasm has been on the rise in Cleveland, where Manziel is viewed as the city's biggest and most popular athlete since homegrown LeBron James left the Cavs for South Beach following the 2010 season.

Nicknamed Johnny Football, Manziel jersey sales are already among the NFL's most popular and the Browns indicate preseason ticket sales have also surged in the days since the team selected him.

The 21-year-old Manziel is also the first freshman player to win a Heisman.

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