Give Johnny Manziel the Heisman

There is no age requirement on the Heisman Trophy. You can neither be too old — say, 28, such as Oklahoma State quarterback Brandon Weeden was last season — nor too young.

All you have to be is the “the outstanding college football player whose performance best exhibits the pursuit of excellence with integrity.”

Which brings us to the man of the moment — Texas A&M redshirt freshman quarterback Johnny Manziel.

A freshman has never won the Heisman, although there have been a few close calls. Oklahoma’s Adrian Peterson was second to Matt Leinart in 2004. Georgia’s Herschel Walker (1980) and Virginia Tech’s Michael Vick (1999) finished third.

But, if there are still those who would on some principle hesitate to vote for a freshman, consider this: Alabama running back Mark Ingram was younger when he won in 2009.

Ingram, a true sophomore when he helped lead the Tide to the 2009 national championship, was about a week shy of his 20th birthday when he won the Heisman. Manziel will turn 20 two days before this year’s ceremony on Dec. 8.

There’s no good reason to not give the Heisman to Johnny Football.

He has more total offense (4,600 yards) than Tim Tebow and Cam Newton when they won.

He has a signature victory — the upset at Alabama.

He has a reel full of highlight plays and “wow” moments.

He has led the Aggies to a top 10 ranking.

He has great timing, surging in the final month of the season.

West Virginia’s Geno Smith ruled the Heisman talk in September before the losses started piling up for the Mountaineers. Kansas State’s Collin Klein became the frontrunner in October after a series of great victories for the Wildcats. But his candidacy was tied to leading K-State to an improbable undefeated season; that went out the window with a loss at Baylor on Nov. 17.

So, it’s Manziel.

Muzzled through the regular season — coach Kevin Sumlin doesn’t allow freshman to do interviews — Manziel twice met with the media this week and came across as Heisman-worthy.

“I don’t really see myself as the ‘Johnny Football’ craze that has swept Aggieland and swept around the nation a little bit,” he said. “I see myself as Johnny Manziel. I’m a guy from Kerrville, Texas, who is just trying to be a laid back guy, who likes to hang out with his friends and try to be a normal college student just like everybody else.”

Yeah, but not every college student has a stiff-armed trophy in his backpack.

As for the other candidates, Klein should definitely be among those invited to the ceremony. Let’s not throw him under the bus for one loss (although a big game against Texas looms this weekend before Heisman ballots are due Monday).

Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te’o is running second to Manziel in Heisman polls, and deserves that kind of strong consideration. His intangibles are off the charts and his tangibles (seven interceptions, 103 tackles) are mighty fine, too. But judging defensive players is trickier. Is Te’o having a better season than Georgia linebacker Jarvis Jones or just a better storyline?

USC receiver Marqise Lee is fabulous, his team’s collapse notwithstanding. And Ohio State sophomore quarterback Braxton Miller, after leading the Buckeyes to a 12-0 season, should be at the Heisman table, too. (We also like another redshirt freshman quarterback — Oregon’s Marcus Mariota — who is supremely talented but didn’t get the chance to throw and run and carry as much of his offense as Manziel did.)

In any case, all the factors converge to make Manziel this season’s most worthy candidate and the Heisman’s unlikeliest winner. What could be more fair? He won’t win on preseason reputation; he’ll win it on the field.

That he’s a freshman shouldn’t matter.

“I just think that situation will play itself out,” he said in a press conference Tuesday. “It goes to the most outstanding player in college football; if that happens to be me then that’s something that I’ll cherish for the rest of my life. If not, then that’s just kind of how the cookie crumbles, I guess.”