Johnny Manziel hasn't played a down in the NFL yet but he has already distinguished himself as a star ... on social media, at least.
In a telling display of his enormous popularity and marketability, the Cleveland Browns' rookie surpassed 1 million Twitter followers over the weekend. He is the fifth NFL quarterback and ninth active player to reach that number. Lions running back Reggie Bush leads all pro football players with 2.9 million followers, while Michael Vick (2.06 million), Drew Brees (1.9 million), Aaron Rodgers (1.18 million) and Robert Griffin III (1.14 million) are tops among QBs. (If Tim Tebow can get back into the league, he'd take over as the top quarterback with 2.63 million.)
Manziel is riding a surge of popularity since the Browns selected him with the 22nd overall pick of the NFL draft last month. His selection prompted a surge in ticket sales, enormous demand for his jersey and even the creation of waffles in his honor.
Manziel has gained 200,000 followers since the May 8 draft, which ESPN's Darren Rovell reports is more than the total followers of any of Manziel's fellow 2014 first-rounders.
Making Manziel's accomplishment all the more impressive is that he has taken months-long breaks from Twitter to focus on the 2013 season and preparing for the NFL draft.
While Manziel does have some catching up to do on Twitter, his Instagram count is well above any of the aforementioned NFL players. He has nearly three times as many followers on the photo sharing website as does Bush (1 million versus 374,000).
Below are some of the most popular tweets from the 21-year-old, who has been on Twitter for three years:
History.. #Heisman pic.twitter.com/a2oi15orVk
— Johnny Manziel (@JManziel2) December 14, 2013
— Johnny Manziel (@JManziel2) May 8, 2014
This is the moment I’ve dreamed about since I was a kid… Thank you to EVERYONE who helped get me here. I’m deeply humbled. #DraftDay
— Johnny Manziel (@JManziel2) May 8, 2014
CLEVELAND #DawgPound #MoneyTeam pic.twitter.com/vy4NFrIgzt
— Johnny Manziel (@JManziel2) May 19, 2014
Throwing out the first pitch at the @Indians game tonight guess it's just meant to be pic.twitter.com/w0V9WiCTyn
— Johnny Manziel (@JManziel2) June 4, 2014
Here is the rundown of the nine active NFL players with more than 1 million followers:
1) Reggie Bush, 2.9 million.
2) Michael Vick, 2.06 million.
3) Vernon Davis, 1.96 million.
4) Drew Brees, 1.9 million.
5) Larry Fitzgerald, 1.76 million.
6) Aaron Rodgers, 1.18 million.
7) Robert Griffin III, 1.14 million.
8) Adrian Peterson, 1.01 million.
9) Johnny Manziel, 1.01 million.
