Conner Shaw or Manziel - Real Johnny Football? (UPDATE-Shaw Cut)

Shaw, top, Manziel, bottom. Who
should be getting paid?

Ever wonder why the Cleveland Browns are a perennial loser in the National Football League.  The Browns drafted Johhny Maziel, watched Conner Shaw outperform him in the pre-season, then cut Shaw.
Fans saw the same determination that made Shaw loved at the University of South Carolina, and cried out for him Cleveland media. By cutting Shaw, it just adds immense pressure for the Browns to develop Manziel, and prove they did not add one mistake, of drafting Manziel, to the other mistake of cutting Shaw. Not very smart on Cleveland's past. But hey, It's Cleveland, what would you expect?

Waiting for the glitz to burn out is not new to Shaw.

The lives of SC's former QB Conner Shaw and Texas A&M's Johnny Manziel have become improbably intertwined.

Both were drafted by the NFL's Cleveland Browns. And their college teams opened the 2014 football season against each other.

Thursday night, while the nation waited to mourn the loss of Manziel from the No. 21 Aggies, it was the absence of Shaw that was most apparent for the No. 9 Gamecocks.

What lesson did we learn from Texas A&M's 52-28 beat-down of South Carolina?

A&M's record-breaking Ken Hill may have changed the name of the maturity-challenged, two-and-through Heisman-winner into Johnny Who.

On the other side of the field, Gamecock fans were left with a bad case of “You-Don't-Know-What-You-Got.”

And that's not where the Shaw-Manziel crossing-of-fates ends.

Shaw, and undrafted free agent, is the focused, squeaky-clean, open-minded student of a game he loves for its beauty.

Manziel, a first-round prick, is a flashy, brilliant at times, oversold pop-culture rant, who does not seem to understand the gifts that he has been given.

If justice and fair-play are the arbiter, could Shaw's humility trump the flash-in-the-pan?

So far, Shaw as a pro, has surprised those not from South Carolina, while Manziel has Browns' faithful wondering if its first pick was well-directed.

Cleveland could face a backlash from fans if it cuts the popular Shaw, and Manziel does not pan out.

For Shaw, it is not an unfamiliar predicament. Before quietly becoming the winningest QB in Gamecock history, Shaw waited his turn.

Before getting his shot at SC, Shaw watched a high-profile talent, by the name of Steven Garcia, who drew attention like a lightening rod. Shaw sat with confidence, and without a word, as Garcia burned his opportunity. The determined Shaw knew what he would do, given his chance.

That experience could pay huge dividends for the Browns, if they place merit before pride.

But it's the NFL. Will discernment be put before shallow ego?
Maybe the Browns can afford to do it their way. But Gamecock fans sure are happy, Shaw was allowed to do it his way at South Carolina.