Hamilton Tiger-Cats coach June Jones has already been very forthcoming about his admiration for Johnny Manziel, and he took it to another level Thursday.
The Tiger-Cats hold Manziel's league rights, and in an appearance on CFL podcast "The Waggle," Jones had lofty praise for the former Cleveland Browns quarterback.
"I think (Manziel) would be the best player to ever play up here," Jones told hosts James Cybulski and Davis Sanchez. "He can throw it and he can run it like nobody has ever been able to do."
Jones worked out Manziel twice and clearly came away impressed. While the former Texas A&M star flamed out in the NFL, Manziel was one of the most dominant college football players in recent memory. He became the first SEC player in history to throw for 3,000 yards and rush for 1,000 yards in the same season.
Upon winning the Heisman Trophy in 2012, Manziel gave a shoutout to CFL legend Doug Flutie, a player many consider the best in league history.
"I have been dreaming about this since I was a a kid, running around the backyard pretending I was Doug Flutie, throwing Hail Marys to my dad," he said, according to The Associated Press.
The Tiger-Cats have two strong quarterbacks on the roster, but Jones admitted it will be tough to keep both Jeremiah Masoli and Zach Collaros. That's helping drive Jones' interest in having Manziel compete for a spot.
"You always have to have two guys. I would see that (Manziel) would be very competitive, there's no question about it," Jones said. "You can't have too many of those guys, and once Johnny would get his shot in there, I think he would be hard to unseat."
