Johnny Manziel

Johnny Manziel was born on December 6, 1992, in Tyler, Texas, and attended Tivy High School in Kerrville, Texas.⁠[1][2]

Manziel enrolled at Texas A&M in January 2011 and redshirted that season; he majored in sports management.⁠[1]

In 2012 he completed 295 passes for 3,706 yards and 26 touchdowns and rushed for 1,410 yards and 21 touchdowns; his 5,116 yards of total offense broke Cam Newton’s SEC record, and he became the first SEC player to pass for 3,000 yards and rush for 1,000 in a season. That November he led Texas A&M to a 29–24 win over No. 1 Alabama in Tuscaloosa.⁠[1][2]

On December 8, 2012, Manziel won the 77th Heisman Trophy with 2,029 points to Manti Te’o’s 1,706, becoming the first freshman to win the award and the second Texas A&M player after John David Crow. He also won the Davey O’Brien Award and the Manning Award that season.⁠[2][1]

In June 2012 Manziel, then 19, was arrested after a fight in College Station; he gave authorities a fake ID showing he was 21 and was charged with disorderly conduct, failure to identify and possession of a fictitious driver’s license.⁠[3]

On July 15, 2013, he pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor failure-to-identify charge and was sentenced to two days in jail, offset by time already served, and a $2,000 fine plus court costs; the disorderly conduct charge was barred from future prosecution as a result of the plea.⁠[3]

In November 2012 Kenneth R. Reynolds Family Investments, an entity not associated with Manziel, applied to register “Johnny Football” as a trademark; about three months later JMAN2 Enterprises, an organization affiliated with Manziel, filed for the same mark. The USPTO refused the Reynolds application because the mark included a living person’s name, and the JMAN2 application was suspended pending resolution of the Reynolds filing; as of March 2014 neither mark was registered.⁠[4]

In the January 2013 Cotton Bowl against Oklahoma he was named Offensive MVP after accounting for 516 total yards.⁠[1]

In 2013 Manziel passed for 4,114 yards and 37 touchdowns and finished fifth in that year’s Heisman Trophy voting.⁠[2]

The Cleveland Browns chose Manziel with the 22nd pick in the first round of the 2014 NFLNFLThe NFL (National Football League) is a U.S. professional American football league of 32 clubs. Founded in 1920 as the APFA and renamed in 1922, it is organized into the AFC and NFC, with the season culminating in the Super Bowl.Open the full entry Draft. In 14 games for Cleveland he went 2–6 as a starter, completing 147 of 258 passes for 1,675 yards with seven touchdowns and seven interceptions and rushing for 259 yards and a touchdown. The Browns released him in March 2016.⁠[5]

In January 2016 Manziel’s former girlfriend accused him of hitting her and rupturing her eardrum during a night out. In April 2016 he was indicted in Dallas County on a misdemeanor charge of assault causing bodily injury.⁠[6]

On December 2, 2016, the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office agreed to a conditional dismissal: within one year Manziel was to complete a court-approved anger management course, attend a domestic violence victim impact panel, take part in the NFL’s substance abuse program or a court-approved drug and alcohol program, and have no contact with his accuser.⁠[6]

After Manziel completed the requirements of the agreement, the case was dismissed on November 22, 2017.⁠[7]

In May 2018 Manziel signed with the CFL’s Hamilton Tiger-Cats under conditions the league set for his eligibility; he never played for Hamilton. In July 2018 the Montreal Alouettes acquired his rights from Hamilton for two players and two first-round picks.⁠[5][8]

In 2018 he played eight games for the Alouettes, completing 106 of 165 passes for 1,290 yards with five touchdowns and seven interceptions.⁠[5]

On February 27, 2019, the Alouettes released Manziel, saying he had contravened the agreement that made him eligible to play, and the CFL informed its other eight teams it would not register a contract for him. CFL Commissioner Randy Ambrosie said: “We advised Montreal that Johnny had violated one of the conditions we had set for him to be in our league.”⁠[5]

In March 2019 the Alliance of American Football (AAF) announced that Manziel had signed a player agreement; his rights initially belonged to the San Antonio Commanders, and after they passed, the Memphis Express claimed him off waivers. AAF co-founder Bill Polian said: “We are pleased to welcome Johnny Manziel to the Alliance of American Football.”⁠[9][8]

Manziel joined the startup Fan Controlled Football (FCF), a seven-on-seven league in which fans call plays and control roster decisions, with games streamed on Twitch on a 35-by-50-yard field. He said: “This has a lot of potential to just be a good time and still be football-centric.”⁠[10]

He played the 2021 FCF season for the Zappers. On March 25, 2022, he announced he would return for a second FCF season, saying his traditional football career “in my eyes is over.”⁠[11]

In August 2023 Manziel announced Johnny Manziel’s Money Bar on College Main Street in College Station, Texas, about a 15-minute walk from Texas A&M’s Kyle Field, with an opening planned for fall 2023.⁠[12]

X: Public account: https://x.com/JManziel2 (opens in a new window).⁠[13]