We bet there’s not a barber around South Bend, Indiana doing this for Manti Te’o. In Kerrville, however, Texas A&M quarterback and Heisman Trophy candidate Johnny “Johnny Football” Manziel has been immortalized in human hair.
As Bill Speros of ESPN.com reported, San Antonio’s Rob the Original–already famous for his similarly artistic, school-incident-causing ‘do depicting Matt Bonner of the San Antonio Spurs–gave Kerrville Hill Country High School student Christian Chavez the Manziel tribute cut last week. Chavez had formerly attended Kerrville Tivy, Manziel’s alma mater.
The barber normally charges around $100 for these kinds of cuts, which take around two hours. He did Chavez’s for free (and, um, for free publicity) after the teenager responded to a post on Facebook.
Our favorite part of the video is the beginning, where Rob is holding a cell phone picture of Manziel in one black glove-clad hand while he works his clippers with the other.
Unfortunately, Hill Country High officials weren’t charmed.
As Speros wrote:
A written statement from Kerrville Independent School District public relations specialist Jamie Fails said Chavez’s hair style violated the school’s dress code, which states: “Hair must be clean and neatly groomed. Only natural hair colors are acceptable. Hairstyles that are distracting are not acceptable.”
Fails’s statement said Chavez “was placed in an area of the school where he would not distract the learning of other students. He left school early today, but it was on his own accord and done at an appropriate time and in an appropriate manner” adding that Chavez’s claim he was “kicked out of school” was “not true.”
“The young man was told today that he needs to change his hair style so that it meets the standard of the district dress code. We want him to return to school tomorrow. If his hair does not meet the district standard, he will be placed in an area of the school where he will not distract the learning of others,” the statement added. “We appreciate the young man’s enthusiasm for Johnny and everyone in the community is just as excited.”
“Yes, an overabundance of awesome does tend to distract just about anyone,” wrote Sports Illustrated‘s Andy Staples.
According to multiple reports, Chavez went ahead and kept the ‘do on Friday, but was supposed to bring his haircut up to code today.
Chavez’s mother Irma told Zeke MacCormack of the San Antonio Express-News that she convinced the school to segregate him, instead of sending him home.
“I don’t want my son to miss school. He needs his education,” she said. “Mr. Schwarz [Hill Country’s principal] said, ‘Don’t get me wrong. Everybody loves it. I love it, but I have to follow the regulations.'”
