Brett Favre: Johnny Manziel reminds me of a 'young Brett Favre'

Brett Favre played at Southern Mississippi before his stellar NFL career. (Allen Steele/Getty Images)

With his charisma and gunslinger mentality, Johnny Manziel has unsurprisingly drawn comparisons to former NFL quarterback Brett Favre. But a USA Today story published Wednesday revealed that Favre too sees the similarities between his own game and Manziel's style.

Though Favre wasn't surrounded by quite as much hype as Manziel coming out of college -- Favre was drafted early in the second round of the 1991 NFL Draft, while Manziel is expected to be one of the first selections in 2014 -- the future Hall of Fame quarterback said that Manziel's game is reminiscent of his own style as a young signal caller.

Favre said that he watched Manziel play against Ole Miss, a game in which the Texas A&M quarterback threw for 346 yards, ran for 124 yards and two touchdowns and led the Aggies to a 41-38 comeback victory. The three-time NFL MVP was impressed.

"I almost thought I was watching film of a young Brett Favre," said the current Favre, who is 44 and spent 20 years in the NFL.

"I didn't think I did a lot of things well (in college at Southern Miss), but he did. And I liked the attitude of 'whatever it takes' — from that standpoint, I liked him."

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Manziel, who decided to turn professional after his redshirt sophomore season at Texas A&M, could be taken as high as No. 1 overall in this May's NFL Draft. The former Aggies quarterback won the Heisman trophy his redshirt freshman year and finished fifth in the voting this past season.

Favre, a future Pro Football Hall of Famer and one of the greatest NFL quarterbacks of all-time, said that Manziel has progressed even further than he had at this stage in his career.

"I didn't throw near as well as him," said Favre. "He may have that capability — unbelievable throws and can makes plays with his feet.

"I was impressed."

The Houston Texans have the first overall pick in this year's NFL Draft.

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