Texas A&M quarterback and projected first-round draft pick Johnny Manziel spent the better part of last week underneath a microscope at the 2014 Scouting Combine in Indianapolis. One of the more polarizing prospects in this year’s draft class, the 21-year-old Manziel worked to elevate his standing among NFL talent evaluators and decision makers while being poked and prodded, timed and measured, questioned and interrogated. As an unproven commodity labeled with the stock-killing “character concerns” designation, Manziel’s mission in Indianapolis was to erase any doubt regarding his future prospects and ability to lead an NFL franchise.

Just a few days before Manziel began making the rounds in Indy working to persuade the NFL brass that he’s more than capable of living up to the “professional” label that will be bestowed upon him come May, Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice—a proven NFL commodity—was caught on tape dragging his unconscious fianc