Johnny Manziel

Vince McMahon was adamant Johnny Manziel would not be part of the XFL, ordering the league's Commissioner and CEO Oliver Luck to keep him out of the football league, per Daniel Kaplan of The Athletic.

McMahon is currently countersuing Luck over breach of contract, claiming the commissioner disobeyed orders to not allow players with bad backgrounds. Though the lawsuit is focused on receiver Antonio Callaway, the pursuit of Manziel was highlighted as another example of the two sides' disagreements. 

“How long R U going to play this game Oliver? U know there is NO CHANCE IN HELL for Manziel to play for us," McMahon sent in a text. "I will NOT change my mind. So what’s Ur plan??"

As Luck later revealed, the public discussion was a marketing ploy.

"Vince—we have no intention of signing him, none whatsoever. We’re just milking the story to stay in the news," he responded.

When McMahon restarted the XFL, he instituted strict rules on player behavior that included no players with a criminal record and no kneeling for the national anthem.

Manziel pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor in 2012 after being arrested following a fight in College Station, Texas.

He also was investigated for alleged domestic battery against his girlfriend in 2016 but reached an agreement to have the charges dismissed once he completed an anger management course, attended a domestic violence impact panel and participated in a substance-abuse program.

The Heisman Trophy winner initially showed excitement for the XFL, saying it would be a "great opportunity" if he could reunite with coach June Jones. He also supported the league on Twitter:

Luck indicated at the time Manziel was eligible for the league but it was up to the coaches to put him on their rosters.

"If eight guys say, ‘we’d like that guy in the league,’ we’ll put him in the league. Or put him in the draft pool," the commissioner told Tom Schad of USA Today in 2019. "Whether teams draft him, that’s up to the individual head coaches."

It now appears the quarterback never had an opportunity to join the league.

Luck was fired and later filed a lawsuit against McMahon for the remaining $23.8 million on his contract. McMahon has since sold the XFL to a group led by Dwayne Johnson.

Manziel signed on to play for Fan Controlled Football last month.

Former Cleveland Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel will be back on the gridiron with Fan Controlled Football, according to ESPN's Kevin Seifert.

The league, which is scheduled to get underway in February, allows fans to build rosters and call plays in seven-on-seven games.

"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 to Seifert. "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."

The FCF confirmed his involvement.

"We could not be more excited to have Johnny Manziel join the FCF," said Sohrob Farudi, the league's co-founder and CEO. "To have one of the most talented and exciting players in the history of college football is a historic moment for the FCF, and for our fans who will have the opportunity to call the plays for Manziel."

Manziel electrified football fans at Texas A&M, becoming the first freshman to win the Heisman Trophy in 2012 after throwing for 3,706 yards and 26 touchdowns while running for 1,410 yards and 21 scores. That represents the pinnacle of his career to date.

The Cleveland Browns selected the former Aggies star with the No. 22 pick in the 2014 draft. He played in 14 games over two years before the Browns released him in 2016 after a string of off-field issues. Shortly before he was let go, the Dallas Police Department announced it was investigating an allegation from Manziel's former girlfriend Colleen Crowley that he dragged her into a car by her hair and threatened to kill her and himself.

In December of that year, he reached a plea deal that would see him undergo counseling in order to have the charge dismissed.

The 28-year-old has since made stops in the Canadian Football League and the Alliance of American Football.

The FCF is made up of four teams with Richard Sherman, Mike Tyson, Quavo and Marshawn Lynch among the owners. The upcoming season will run for six games.

According to Seifert, former Florida State and Hampton quarterback Deondre Francois is also among the players committed to suiting up.

Former NFL quarterback Johnny Manziel is reportedly in "serious talks" to sign with the Zappers of the new Fan Controlled Football league, which is set to begin play in February 2021.

TMZ Sports reported Saturday that Manziel, who last played for the AAF's Memphis Express in 2019, is in discussions to join the team co-owned by comedian Bob Menery and New York Mets pitcher Trevor May.

The FCF has an agreement with streaming service Twitch to broadcast its games, and fans will be in control of many aspects, including the in-game play calls.

"You're in the feed with the owners. They have advice, but you vote on the calls," the league's official website reads. "Select the best play and it's relayed right to the QB. Top fans on leaderboard have the most voting power."

The four-team, arena-style league also counts former NFL running back Marshawn Lynch, legendary boxer Mike Tyson and rapper Quavo among its other owners, per TMZ.

Manziel was once among the biggest names in football. He won the 2012 Heisman Trophy and went on to get selected by the Cleveland Browns with the 22nd overall pick in the 2014 draft.

Lackluster on-field performance in Cleveland combined with various off-field problems led his NFL career to get cut short after just two seasons, though.

He's since made stops with the CFL's Hamilton Tiger-Cats and Montreal Alouettes along with the Express, but his level of play never suggested a return to the NFL was realistic.

Joining the FCF, which should feature a more free-flowing, backyard-football style, could be the perfect fit for his versatile skill set. And his name still attracts plenty of attention, which should help the league generate early buzz on Twitch.

Former Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel opened up about receiving impermissible benefits during his college career.

During an appearance on the YNK: You Know What I Mean? podcast, Manziel discussed people offering him money to do favors for them while he was playing at Texas A&M (warning: contains profanity):

Rumors and speculation about Manziel making money off of his name while playing for the Aggies is nothing new. 

Darren Rovell and Justine Gubar of ESPN's Outside the Lines reported in 2013 that the NCAA was investigating Manziel for potentially receiving money "for signing hundreds of autographs on photos and sports memorabilia in January."

Rovell and Gubar reported Manziel agreed to the signings for a "five-figure flat fee" when he was in Miami to do press during the week leading up to the 2013 BCS National Championship Game between Notre Dame and Alabama. 

Manziel did receive a modest suspension in which he had to sit out the first half of Texas A&M's 2013 season opener against Rice, but the NCAA ultimately ruled that he didn't accept money. 

Texas A&M went 9-4 in 2013 and defeated Duke 52-48 in the Peach Bowl in what turned out to be Manziel's final college game. The 27-year-old played two seasons in the NFL with the Cleveland Browns before being released in March 2016. 

Johnny Manziel's NFL career was supposed to be a preview of what the pro quarterback position could become. Instead, the Texas A&M star ended up serving as another cautionary tale.   

Living in relative isolation during the coronavirus pandemic has given Manziel plenty of time to consider his stint in the NFL. From the excitement of being a first-round pick in the 2014 draft to numerous offseason controversies that tainted his time in the league, the quarterback's run through the NFL featured so many twists and turns that it can be difficult to remember his tenure lasted just two years.

During that time with the Cleveland Browns, Manziel started eight games, winning just two of them. But it's not the win-loss record Manziel reflected on over the past few months, so much as the dysfunction and disrespect he displayed with the Browns.

During an appearance on the YNK Podcast, Manziel opened up on how he views his time in the NFL (comments begin at the 42:00 mark):

"Looking back on it now, I would say I absolutely, 100 percent lost their respect. Why wouldn't you? If I was one of them looking back at what I was doing, and your decisions that you make off the field impact if I put food on mine, yeah I'd feel some type of way, a hundred percent. I would say we wasted a draft pick to go get this guy who doesn't give a f--k. And that's my only thing in life that I haven't been able to look back and like fully have closure on. ... It's probably one of the only things that I haven't looked back on and been able to be like super, super OK with what happened."

Even before he played his first regular-season contest, Manziel began making headlines for the wrong reasons.

He was fined $12,000 after a preseason game for waving his middle finger at the Washington Football Team,  he violated the league's substance-abuse policy in 2016, and he alienated many of his colleagues with his antics.

That was especially true of his teammates in Cleveland, which Manziel said was one of the hardest truths to accept:

"I don't appreciate going to Cleveland for two years and impacting and wasting two years of Joe Thomas' career, who's a guy that's going to be a 12-time Pro Bowler and going to be in the Hall of Fame. And I regret not going and being closer with these guys and being distant into the other life that I was living. And it's nuts, and to sit back and look at it now, it's a shameful thing and something that I have to look back, and at the end of the day, I can only say 'Yo' to those guys.

"And I feel like I've told them over the past couple of years. I've got to the point where I've hit like clarity, and I went and did Joe's podcast. I still talk to Joe Haden, some of these guys that were like foundation members of the Browns during this time. Cause I think we had the talent to do it, but we had a young—a bad mix of people and a point to where I got to where I didn't give it everything I had to everybody else. I didn't have the grind in my mind like I did to be great in college like I did in Cleveland, and I feel disrespectful to the guys who were there, being legends because they worked their f--king ass off."

Manziel was out of Cleveland by 2016 and out of the NFL shortly after that. He attempted comebacks with the Canadian Football League's Montreal Alouettes in 2018 and the now-defunct AAF's Memphis Express in 2019. 

As of September, he told TMZ he was retired. Coping with his football career remains an ongoing process. 

Former Cleveland Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel downplayed his interest in starting a potential NFL comeback in the XFL, which was recently purchased by a group that includes Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson.

"I'm retired, dude," Manziel told TMZ Sports on Friday.

The 27-year-old Texas A&M product most recently played for the AAF's Memphis Express in 2019 after spending the 2018 season in the CFL with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and Montreal Alouettes. He was released by the Browns in March 2016 after two years in the NFL.

"Listen, anything The Rock touches is gonna be gold as always," Manziel told TMZ. "But I think football is a little bit behind me. I'm just trying do to other things in life that make me happy. That's it."

Manziel took the football world by storm in 2012 when he became the first freshman to win the Heisman Trophy after he accounted for 47 touchdowns (26 passing and 21 rushing) in 13 games for the Aggies.

"Johnny Football" recorded 46 more touchdowns in 2013 before the Browns selected him with the 22nd pick in 2014.

The Texas native flamed out in the NFL, however, throwing seven touchdowns and seven interceptions in 14 appearances across two seasons. Surrounding and during that stretch, Manziel sought help in a drug and alcohol treatment facility, and was later charged with domestic assault.

Manziel told TMZ he still stays in shape but isn't particularly focused on getting back on the gridiron.

"You never say never, I'm still an athletic guy ... but at the end of the day, let's see where the rest of life takes me and we'll go from there," he said. "Football for me is not at the forefront of my mind. It's just chillin' and being one of the bros."

He failed to make an impact in either the CFL or the AAF, and he wasn't a candidate for the 2020 season of the XFL based on the "high character" standards put in place by then-owner Vince McMahon of the WWE.

Even if The Rock and his business partners make new eligibility guidelines, it doesn't sound like Manziel is interested in joining the spring league.

In all likelihood, he's played his final NFL down.

Johnny Manziel has experienced so many highs and lows over the last decade it can be hard to remember he's still just 27 years old.

He has his whole life ahead of him—it just won't include football. Manziel seems at peace with that notion, telling Don Williams of the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal his time as a pro quarterback is over:

"In the past, probably, is the way I'd characterize [my football career]. I've finally got to a point where I'm trying to achieve happiness in life, not happiness on the football field.

"I know a lot of people probably want me to come back and play and give it another chance, but I don't know, as far as being a person and figuring out life as a young adult—trying to make it and figure it out—if I've ever been in a better place than I'm in right now. I can honestly say I'm happy and I'm doing the right things to try and put a smile on my face every day, and that means more to me than going out and grinding on a football field."

The former Texas A&M star last played with the Memphis Express of the now-defunct Alliance of American Football. He played in just two games before the league folded, suffering a concussion during his second appearance that forced him to the sidelines.

Originally drafted by the Cleveland Browns with the No. 22 overall pick in 2014, Manziel admitted he never put in the work off the field needed to succeed on it. That continued even after he flamed out of the league in 2015 and attempted a comeback in the Canadian Football League.

"During that time when I got drafted, I didn't put in the time that I needed to be a great player and I don't think my heart was in it," Manziel said. "And I think when I went back to Canada, it was the same way. I truly believed and truly thought it was what I wanted to do, and my heart wasn't in it, and it worked out the way it did."

Manziel's CFL career lasted shorter than his NFL attempt did, as bounced between the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and Montreal Alouettes in 2018.

If this really is the end for Johnny Football, he still has plenty to boast about. Manziel won the 2012 Heisman Trophy, earned consensus All-American honors and passed for seven touchdowns in the NFL.

Few quarterbacks can say the same, and Manziel doesn't seem a need to apologize for how his professional career turned out.

"People can call me whatever they want," Manziel told Williams. "But at the end of the day, I'm proud of what I did. I'm proud of what I accomplished. I bettered myself. I bettered my family's life. I got a chance to play amazing college football, and it didn't work out in the NFL and that's OK."

Cleveland Browns wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. is sticking to his day job. 

The 27-year-old revealed Thursday that he was "tired affff" after playing quarterback for LSU's scout team to prepare the defense for then-Texas A&M star quarterback Johnny Manziel:

Beckham could be referring to either of LSU and Texas A&M's matchups on Oct. 20, 2012, or  Nov. 23, 2013. LSU won both times—24-19 and 34-10, respectively. Manziel was held to 276 yards, no touchdowns and three interceptions in 2012 followed by 224 yards, one touchdown and two picks in 2013. Beckham combined for 85 yards on nine catches across both contests.

Manziel was named the 2012 Heisman Trophy winner before going 22nd overall to the Browns in the 2014 NFL draft. The 27-year-old was cut by Cleveland in March 2016 and has not played in the league since.

Beckham was selected 12th overall in the 2014 draft by the New York Giants, where he earned the Offensive Rookie of the Year and threw two touchdown passes in 2018 before getting traded to the Browns in March 2019:

As a three-time Pro Bowl receiver, Beckham has recorded at least 1,000 yards receiving in five of his six professional campaigns for a total of 6,511 yards and 48 touchdowns. Last season, his first as a Brown, saw him notch 1,035 yards and four touchdowns on 74 catches.

If you're thinking about diving off of a cliff into a body of water, think again. Not even Heisman winners can pull it off without nearly suffering dire consequences. 

Johnny Manziel posted a video of himself slipping and falling off a cliff into Lake Pleasant while seemingly attempting to do a backflip into the water. Manziel was uninjured in the fall, landing safely in the water, but this was a scary situation that could have gone a lot worse if he was unable to get a slight push off with his left foot:

The lesson: The adrenaline you get from looking cool and doing the backflip is probably not worth the risk.