Houston Texans owner Bob McNair says his team passed up on the opportunity to draft Johnny Manziel because the Heisman Trophy winner was not fit for the team.
Speaking to ESPN, McNair said he knew that drafting Manziel out of Texas A&M would have been a frenzy. Manziel was eventually drafted by the Cleveland Browns. "And probably even if he didn't succeed at being an outstanding NFL quarterback for a couple years, the fans would have been frenzied."
But he said that the team was not sure if Manziel would fit in their system, explaining why they did not draft Johnny Football. "At the end of the day, you've gotta do what you think is best for the team. If you do what's best for the team and the team succeeds as a result of it, the fans are going to forget those other things."
The Texans faced a lot of public pressure to draft the highly popular Manziel, who had also expressed his desire to play for his home state. There were billboards around Houston urging the team to draft Manziel. This was reminiscent of 2006, when the team opted for Mario Williams instead of the popular picks Vince Young and Reggie Bush.
McNair added: "When they say they want you to get Manziel, it's because [they think] with Manziel you've got a better chance to win. Or with Vince Young, or with Reggie Bush, or whoever, it's because they think you'll be a better team with that person."
The Texans owner said that while they respect the team's fans, they are not in a position to make decisions like drafting of players. "We respect our fans and we listen to our fans, but they don't study the film that we study. They don't have the information and knowledge that we have."
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