Johnny Manziel has agreed to resume his playing career with a startup league called Fan Controlled Football, he told ESPN this week.
Todd Gurley and Johnny Manziel sent some funny tweets on Tuesday about being paid in college. A report on Tuesday from Dan Patrick went viral and said that Tennessee was handing money to recruits. Johnny Football is back. The 2014 first-round pick of the Browns will resume his playing career with the new Fan Controlled Football league, according to Kevin Seifert of ESPN.com. — Johnny Manziel (@JManziel2) January 18, 2021 Would this be a good time to remind Johnny Manziel that he posted a 2-6 record in eight with the Browns from 2014-15? $ 6 Million Johnny Manziel Net Worth: Johnathan Paul Manziel is an American football quarterback who is a free agent as of January 2018. He played two seasons with the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL). Between salary, signing bonus and endorsements, Johnny Manziel earned $7 million during his rookie year. During that rookie year he threw for a total of 175 passing.
The league, scheduled to begin play in February, will feature 7-on-7 games where fans set rosters, call plays and interact in a blend of traditional and esports environments.
'The more I heard about what this was going to be, the more I felt it was going to be something that was just very fun,' Manziel said. 'It's going to be very fan-oriented and something I could get behind without being extremely, extremely, extremely serious, the way that my football career has been in the past.'
Manziel, 28, connected with FCF co-founder and CEO Sohrob Farudi through comedian Bob Menery, a mutual friend. Manziel last played football in April 2019 for the Alliance of American Football and also has played in The Spring League and the Canadian Football League since the Cleveland Browns released him in 2015.
He said this week that he wasn't looking to return to football at any level but was drawn to playing the FCF version on his own terms. Since the AAF folded, Manziel has moved to Scottsdale, Arizona, where he said he plays golf, throws the football in the backyard with friends, watches football on the weekend and has had a 'normal, laid-back lifestyle' for the duration of 2020.
'Life gives you opportunities sometimes to do something that you would still like to do if it was in a different capacity,' Manziel said. 'This has a lot of potential to just be a good time and still be football-centric. They're going to let the people [who] join this league be who they are and have fun with it and be a little bit more free than what football is sometimes. That's definitely what appealed to me. They don't want me to change who I am or anything else. They want to come out, put a good product out and be fun with it.'
Farudi said the league will place a heavy emphasis on connecting fans with the players' lives away from the field, via social media or other digital integration, making it 'built for a guy like' Manziel.
'It's not only what you can do on the field, but who you are off the field,' Farudi said. 'We want them to connect to fans and be authentic. I think if you look at Johnny's career, he was electric on and off the field. He has that big, bold personality. Sure, he rubbed some people the wrong way. But he just has this presence about him.
'He got into these other leagues and, I hate to say this, but it's like the handcuffs were put on. You had to act differently. You had to walk and talk differently. He couldn't just be himself. That's where we want to be different as a league. We're really embracing this idea of being more than an athlete. ... We're very comfortable with having players be big personalities off the field and doing what they want to do. For us, it's as much as about the off-field opportunities to connect with the fan base as it is about the football on the field.'
The Heisman Trophy winner in 2012 at Texas A&M, Manziel was the No. 22 overall pick in the 2014 NFL draft. He played in 14 games over two seasons for the Browns, but off-field issues and an inattention to his job prompted the Browns to cut ties with him. Manziel said in 2018 that he had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and had abused alcohol to battle depression, episodes that often found their way to social media or he posted there himself.
Asked where he is now on a personal level, Manziel said: 'I wake up with a smile on my face way more than I used to in the past, when people would have said that I had everything. It's funny how life works sometimes. You have everything and you can be upset, and when you have a lot less, you can be way happier. I'm at a point in my life where I'm 28 years old and I'm still trying to figure out what I'm doing moving forward and trying to re-create an identity, and that's what the past year has been about for me.'
Johnny Manziel College Stats
The FCF's lead investor is Lightspeed Venture Partners. The league will begin with four teams, each of which will have celebrity owners, including NFL players Richard Sherman, Austin Ekeler and the retired Marshawn Lynch. Other owners include hip-hop artist Quavo, boxer Mike Tyson and Menery.
The teams will play a six-week schedule, with games livestreamed on Twitch from a league-leased facility in Atlanta. The games will last about an hour, and the field will be 50-by-35 yards with 10-yard end zones. Players will have backgrounds in college Division I and II programs, along with the CFL, XFL and Indoor Football League. The FCF recently received a commitment from former Florida State and Hampton quarterback Deondre Francois.
Farudi described the league's vision as a 'gamification' of the fan experience targeted at the 18-35 age demographic. Fans who register will participate in much of the football operations.
'The younger generation isn't sitting through a three-hour game anymore,' Farudi said. 'They want it quick and easy. Part of our concept is, 'Let's give it to them quick and easy.' It's a one-hour game. It's interactive. You're watching and interacting at the same time.'
Johnny Manziel is eyeing a return to football, just months after the former Heisman Trophy winner and NFL Draft bust seemingly ruled out returning to the gridiron.
Manziel, the No. 22 overall pick in the 2014 NFL Draft, hasn’t played organized football since 2019 for the Alliance of American Football. However, after stepping away from the game, it appears the 28-year-old now wants to return.
Johnny Manziel signs with Fan Controlled Football
Updated: Wednesday, Dec. 30 at 11:10 AM EST
ESPN.com’s Kevin Seifert reported on Manziel’s return to the gridiron, yet he doesn’t sound like someone who’s aspiring to reaching a higher level of football at this juncture, though.
Fan Controlled Football is a startup that features 7-on-7 games where fans call the plays and are in charge of building rosters. Here’s some of what Manziel had to say about joining:
“It’s going to be very fan-oriented and something I could get behind without being extremely, extremely, extremely serious, the way that my football career has been in the past. […] Life gives you opportunities sometimes to do something that you would still like to do if it was in a different capacity. […] They don’t want me to change who I am or anything else. They want to come out, put a good product out and be fun with it.”
Johnny Manziel on signing with Fan Controlled Football
Apparently the league will grant fans access to the athletes in a very engaging way through social media and other means, making Manziel’s appeal obvious in that regard. According to the ESPN report, games will be live streamed on Twitch from Atlanta and played on a 50-yard field.
It’s certainly an interesting venture, and having Manziel’s support means the fledgling league will have legs at least at the start. Whether this league blossoms into something longer-term or reignites Manziel’s football career remains to be seen.
Johnny Manziel in ‘serious talks’ to resume football career
Ever since Manziel’s NFL career came to an end in 2015, the young quarterback has sought an opportunity to prove himself. He bounced around the Canadian Football League (2018) and AAF (2019), before admitting in June that his football career is in the past.
According to TMZ Sports, Manziel is closing in on a deal with the Fan Controlled Football league. The FCF, which will be indoor football, is reportedly set to launch in Feb. 2021.
Johnny Manziel Today
There will be four teams in the FCF, all of which are owned by prominent figures. The Glacier Boyz are co-owned by Quavo, Richard Sherman and YouTube star Donald De La Haya, known as Deestroying. The Zappers are co-owned by Bob Menery and MLB pitcher Trevor May. The Beasts are co-owned by Marshawn Lynch, Mike Tyson and Miro. Lastly, Greg Miller and Los Angeles Chargers running back Austin Ekeler co-own the Wild Aces.
Manziel is reportedly closing in on a deal to join the Zappers and he would likely become the league’s top quarterback and its biggest star.
Johnny Manziel stats and a football career that fizzled out
At Texas A&M, Johnny Manziel became a football legend. Taking over for Ryan Tannehill as a relative unknown, he had to earn the starting job. In a matter of weeks, he turned into a household name.
In his first season, Manziel racked up 3,706 passing yards, with a 26/9 TD/INT ratio and 155.3 quarterback rating. On the ground, he delivered some of the best rushing statistics we’ve seen from a college quarterback. In his first collegiate season, Manziel accounted for 1,410 rushing yards and 21 scores.
He took home practically every award he could in that 2012 season. Manziel was named the Heisman Trophy winner, Davey O’Brien Award recipient and received the Manning Award. In addition, he was named the AP’s Player of the Year and was a consensus All-American.
Manziel was even better as a passer in 2013. He completed 69.9% of his passing, setting career-highs in passing yards (4,114), yards per attempt (9.6), touchdowns (37) and quarterback rating (172.9). He also posted 759 rushing yards and nine rushing scores that year.
Johnny Manziel Net Worth
After Cleveland selected Manziel with the No. 22 overall pick in 2014, things went downhill fast for one of the biggest college football stars during his era. He played in 14 games, eight starts, posting a 2-6 record with a 7/7 TD/INT ratio, 74.4 quarterback rating and completed just 57% of his pass attempts. In the end, he finished fifth for the 2013 Heisman Trophy.
With Manziel facing a domestic violence charge in 2016, the Browns released their former first-round pick on March 11, 2016. He would never get another shot in the NFL after that, with his poor play and off-field issues pushing teams away.
Manziel bounced around the CFL with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and Montreal Alouettes. Across eight games, he threw for 1,290 yards with five touchdowns and seven interceptions.
The Alouettes released him in 2019 after violating the terms of his CFL contract, reportedly missed multiple required meetings with a therapist. He eventually signed with the AAF but played in just two games before it folded.
Johnny Manziel Draft
After years of making headlines for all the wrong reasons, he has largely kept a lower profile and avoided any more legal troubles. With his life seemingly turned around, perhaps the FCF could be perfect for Johnny Manziel.