Johnny Football: Student-Athlete

DocZaius · Post by **DocZaius** » Wed Jul 31, 2013 11:02 am

http://msn.foxsports.com/collegefootbal ... ame-073013

This is Paul Manziel, speaking about his son Johnny Manziel's relatively newfound celebrity:

"Yeah, it could come unraveled. And when it does, it's gonna be bad. Real bad."

DocZaius · Post by **DocZaius** » Wed Jul 31, 2013 11:03 am

Here's the article, a1:

http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/_/id/ ... mobile/%22

a1bion · Post by **a1bion** » Wed Jul 31, 2013 11:39 am

BACK IN COLLEGE STATION, Johnny's world had turned toxic and weird. The pressure had been building -- is still building -- and the latest in an endless loop of public ventings happened when he left his car parked the wrong way in front of his house. He and some teammates had gone down to the Corpus Christi Bay to chase redfish and speckled trout. Johnny loves his teammates, and as his dad found peace in the fairways of Hollytree, Johnny is most himself at practice and at games.

The boys relished their time on the water, brothers in arms, dreaming about the season to come. Back home, according to the Manziels, the cops saw Johnny's illegal parking job. Instead of writing him a ticket, the cops knocked on the front door after midnight and awoke his roommate. The police wanted to know whose car was parked the wrong way, offering the offender a chance to move it without getting a ticket. The intrusion set Johnny off. "They know where Johnny lives," Paul says. "They take him home after the games. They know whose car it is. They are harassing him."

This is the passage I was talking about (and where I stopped reading). The cops tried to help you get out of a ticket? OMG, you're so put upon!

DocZaius · Post by **DocZaius** » Wed Jul 31, 2013 1:09 pm

It doesn't take a genius to figure out that this kid is headed for a big fall if he doesn't get his head out of his ass.

a1bion · Post by **a1bion** » Wed Jul 31, 2013 1:52 pm

Deadspin does a good job deconstructing that ESPN article.

http://deadspin.com/the-trouble-with-es ... -968777922

DocZaius · Post by **DocZaius** » Wed Jul 31, 2013 2:20 pm

Between this and the Manti Teo expose, Deadspin has some damn fine reporting and writing.

a1bion · Post by **a1bion** » Sun Aug 04, 2013 4:39 pm

Ruh roh.

MIAMI -- The NCAA is investigating whether Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel was paid for signing hundreds of autographs on photos and sports memorabilia in January, "Outside the Lines" has learned. Two sources tell "Outside the Lines" that the Texas A&M quarterback agreed to sign memorabilia in exchange for a five-figure flat fee during his trip to Miami for the BCS National Championship Game. Both sources said they witnessed the signing, though neither saw the actual exchange of money.

Three sources said Manziel signed photographs, footballs, mini football helmets and other items at the request of an autograph broker named Drew Tieman. Two sources, who are aware of the signing arrangement, told "Outside the Lines" that Tieman approached Manziel on Jan. 6 when he landed at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport to attend the game between Alabama and Notre Dame the next day.

After that meeting, three sources said, Manziel, accompanied by his friend and personal assistant Nathan Fitch, visited Tieman's residence and signed hundreds of items in the main room of the apartment despite the fact that there were many people in the room. Before Manziel left South Florida, after taking in the title game, he signed hundreds of autographs more, one source said.

The source also told "Outside the Lines" that James Garland, the NCAA's assistant director of enforcement, in June contacted Tieman and at least one person associated with the signings. The source said Garland, who did not return calls from "Outside the Lines" for comment, told the person that he wanted to talk about Manziel signing items that had appeared for sale on eBay. An NCAA spokeswoman cited NCAA policy to "Outside the Lines" and declined to comment.

If the NCAA investigation finds that Manziel has violated NCAA Bylaw 12.5.2.1 -- accepting money for promoting or advertising the commercial sale of a product or service -- he could be ruled ineligible.

http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/_/id/ ... autographs

DocZaius · Post by **DocZaius** » Mon Aug 05, 2013 8:12 am

While Manziel's father, Paul, had alleged that many of the items were fake, two of the leading autograph authentication companies, PSA/DNA and JSA, have authenticated many of the items. Officials with both companies have told ESPN in recent months that they stand by their guarantee that they believe the signatures, some with inscriptions like "Gig 'Em" and "Heisman '12" are genuine. Online verification databases show a single lot of 999 signed Manziel photos numbered sequentially. JSA authenticated 248 items and 376 items that came in in two batches that also are numbered sequentially. Industry insiders say this indicates the signings were done in large quantities intended for wholesale.

I think we found our new slogan:

"Yeah, it could all come unraveled," Johnny's father told The Magazine. "And when it does, it's gonna be bad. Real bad."

DocZaius · Post by **DocZaius** » Mon Aug 05, 2013 8:19 am

a1bion · Post by **a1bion** » Mon Aug 05, 2013 10:02 am

Yep, the fact that the memorabilia was sequentially numbered seems to be the give away here.

I've seen other people commenting elsewhere that it doesn't make any sense he'd do this for the money, since his family is rich, but that seems to me to miss the pattern of JFF's behavior. There was an article last year that described how Manziel's dad said he bought JFF a new car because he was concerned that if he didn't, JFF would get the car he wanted from a booster. Then you had the news of his family starting a corporation to anticipate when they could start making money off of JFF. Then there was the recent OTL article where his dad was bitching about how much money everybody was making off of JFF, except for JFF or the family. It's all of a piece.

a1bion · Post by **a1bion** » Mon Aug 05, 2013 11:32 am

Manziel was scheduled to meet with the media today after practice. Now, not so much.

A prominent autograph broker on eBay, based in the Southeast, said that Nate Fitch -- Johnny Manziel's friend and personal assistant -- approached him last season to let him know that Manziel would no longer be signing autographs for him without compensation, according to ESPN's Joe Schad.

The broker, who spoke to Schad under the condition of anonymity, said that Manziel signed about 50 items for him at the Texas A&M team hotel the night before the Nov. 10 Texas A&M at Alabama game. The person said that Manziel then signed about 200 more items a few days later, with the broker saying he did not compensate Manziel for either of those sessions.

Besides saying that Manziel would no longer sign autographs for free, Fitch, according to the broker, also said he could provide other current standout college football players for autograph sessions in which the players would need to be paid.

http://espn.go.com/dallas/college-footb ... h-signings

DocZaius · Post by **DocZaius** » Mon Aug 05, 2013 2:01 pm

DocZaius · Post by **DocZaius** » Mon Aug 05, 2013 2:03 pm

DocZaius · Post by **DocZaius** » Mon Aug 05, 2013 2:06 pm

Supposedly, Johnny signing the stuff in the hotel room:

DocZaius · Post by **DocZaius** » Mon Aug 05, 2013 2:08 pm

http://espn.go.com/college-football/sto ... h-signings

DocZaius · Post by **DocZaius** » Mon Aug 05, 2013 2:12 pm

DocZaius · Post by **DocZaius** » Mon Aug 05, 2013 2:15 pm

a1bion · Post by **a1bion** » Tue Aug 06, 2013 5:01 pm

Interestingly enough, the Vegas sports books are no longer taking bets on any of Texas A&M's games. Sounds like they're waiting to see if Manziel is going to be suspended before they're willing to take wagers.

slideman67 · Post by **slideman67** » Wed Aug 07, 2013 12:05 am

Dumbass!

DocZaius · Post by **DocZaius** » Mon Aug 12, 2013 7:19 am

a1bion · Post by **a1bion** » Mon Aug 12, 2013 10:43 am

Somebody in the media, finally, gets it.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/colleg ... =cf_bf4_a8

Also, there is the small matter of Johnny Football saying some delusional things lately. On one evening this summer, he tweeted that (s---) "like tonight is why I can't wait to leave college station ... whenever it may be."

Pop quiz! What kind of (s---) was he talking about?

A. Texas fans beat him up.
B. Alabama fans beat him up.
C. He had to go walk more than 20 feet before finding a fellow student who would go on a date with the Heisman Trophy winner.

Nope, nope, nope. The answer is:
D. Cops knocked on his door and woke his roommate so he could move his car without getting a parking ticket.

Wow. I can't understand how anybody could tell the story without laughing at him. I have been a college student and gainfully employed; I have met folks well below the poverty line, and people worth $100 million or more. Never, in my whole life, have I heard somebody angrily complain that a cop wanted to get him out of a parking ticket.

a1bion · Post by **a1bion** » Mon Aug 12, 2013 5:57 pm

Interesting long piece up at Deadspin on the Manziel family history. They're the rather colorful family.

If Johnny Football's so rich, the thinking went, why would he stoop to selling autographs for pocket change?

But maybe it isn't so weird. It turns out the Manziels are a much more colorful and interesting bunch than any of the profiles thus far have indicated. Their fortune was indeed made in oil—wildcatting, specifically—but there were also family sidelines in cockfighting, small-time grifting, match-fixing, and, if you believe the federal indictments, cocaine-trafficking and murder. In fact, the first great sporting success under the family name wasn't Johnny Football; it was the Manziel grey gamefowl, bred by Johnny's great-grandfather. The Manziels arrived in Texas after cockfighting was outlawed, but they wound up with a breed named after them anyway.

That's the story of the Manziels in America. It's the story of making money just this side (and occasionally that side) of the rules.

http://deadspin.com/the-long-con-how-th ... 1040593220

DocZaius · Post by **DocZaius** » Mon Aug 19, 2013 8:16 am

LOL: http://johnnymanzielautographs.com/

DocZaius · Post by **DocZaius** » Mon Aug 19, 2013 8:17 am

http://www.goodbullhunting.com/2013/8/1 ... ly-article

"Johnny Manziel is a red-blooded American young man," says Scott, with whom Manziel still has a close relationship. "He is not superhuman, he is not a saint, he does not have a halo. He is subject to the temptations everyone else is. But he is a great person. He has a genuine love for his teammates and coaches. I have never spoken to him on the phone when he didn’t end the conversation saying, ‘I love you, Coach.’ He has never not said it."

Well, that's a little weird.

DocZaius · Post by **DocZaius** » Mon Aug 19, 2013 8:18 am

http://espn.go.com/dallas/nfl/story/_/i ... estigation

Bryant said he feels like he "didn't get the same love" from the media as Manziel when he was under scrutiny by the NCAA. He attributes that to Manziel's status as a Heisman Trophy winner and the popularity of the Texas A&M program.

"I don't think my situation was as [bad] as his," Bryant said. "Johnny Manziel is a great football player. I really hope him the best. I hope he doesn't get suspended. I pray that he don't get suspended, because I love watching him. But as far as the NCAA, I just think they do a lot of stuff unfair."

Bryant also cited the delayed five-game suspension of former Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor for accepting improper benefits as an example of the NCAA being inconsistent with its punishment. Pryor was allowed to play in Ohio State's Sugar Bowl win over Arkansas after the 2010 season and entered the NFL's supplemental draft instead of serving his NCAA suspension.

"All I did was lie about going over to somebody's house and I got my season taken away from me," Bryant said. "Still to this day, I think about it. It bothers me. I can't get it back. No matter how much money I make in this league ... that really meant something to me.

Guy's got a point.