Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel is taking some heat for the unsportsmanlike conduct he displayed in Saturday's season opener, but former NFL lineman Tony Casillas says Manziel is nothing compared to Brian Bosworth, his ex-teammate at Oklahoma.
Of the two, Bosworth "was a bigger jerk than Johnny Manziel," Casillas said Thursday on his radio show on 107.7 The Franchise, The Oklahoman reported.
Bosworth was notorious for making controversial comments during an illustrious career at Oklahoma, but he spent just two years in the NFL with the Seattle Seahawks.
"I remember I played with Brian Bosworth and there was a lot of times that I really felt like there had been a situation where either an assistant coach or head coach could've filtered him because he was out of hand," Casillas said. "... I look back and the guys like that, for me I think he was a bigger jerk than Johnny Manziel. I knew he was."
During Saturday's win against Rice, Manziel celebrated with a "money" gesture of rubbing his fingers together and mimed the signing of an autograph. He later received an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty after taunting Rice defenders and pointing toward the scoreboard.
Former Oklahoma coach Barry Switzer said Wednesday on ESPN Radio's "The Herd with Colin Cowherd" that he was not pleased with Manziel's antics.
"I wanted to jerk his face mask and I wanted to grab him up, and of course you get fired for doing that," Switzer said. "But in the old days, you could get away with it."
Switzer defended Bosworth as an excellent student and someone who stayed out of legal issues, but his distractions eventually led Switzer to kick Bosworth off the Sooners after the lineman wore a shirt calling the NCAA the "National Communists Against Athletes" in the 1987 Orange Bowl.
"I didn't know he was wearing the damn T-shirt during the ballgame," Switzer said. "I'm watching the game. I went and got that TV tape, I called him and said, 'Brian, I don't care whether you go pro or not because your [butt] isn't playing on this team next year.' I kicked him off the team, at least publicly. I said, 'You're through.' You might as well make your decision and release it right now that you're not going to be here next year. You're going to be in pro football and you're not playing your senior year for your conduct on the sidelines. Then he comes back begging to me, 'Please put me back on the team, I want some bargaining chips, to have an opportunity to deal with the [NFL draft].'"
Switzer said he then allowed Bosworth back on the team before the draft.
"When I finally did see the sideline escapade he put on -- that's what put Brian in trouble," Switzer said. "It wasn't ever what he ever did on game day. His game-day play was great."