Former Texas A&M quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel recently sat down with Shannon Sharpe for the Club Shay Shay podcast.
Johnny Manziel Explains Secret Meeting To Return To Texas A&M
Johnny Manziel said his father had a meeting with Kevin Sumlin where he would get $3 million under the table if he stayed for 2 more years pic.twitter.com/QOWvksoZRJ
— Ahmed/The Ears/IG: BigBizTheGod 🇸🇴 (@big_business_) February 21, 2024
After the 2013 college football season, Manziel declared for the NFL Draft. The Cleveland Browns selected the young quarterback with the 22nd pick of the first round.
However, Manziel may have returned to Texas A&M for the right price. Manziel revealed his father, Paul, had a secret meeting with Aggies head coach Kevin Sumlin, where he attempted to negotiate a deal on behalf of his son to return to school.
“Right in there about December-January, I’m getting ready to make this decision on if I’m going to the NFL Draft or if I’m going to stay,” Manziel recalled to Sharpe. “I found this out five years later from my dad. My dad went and had a meeting with Kevin Sumlin. Pretty much went to him man to man and was like, ‘We’ll take three million bucks, and we’ll stay for the next two years.'”
Keep in mind, this was before NIL, making this deal illegal. However, Manziel said Sumlin laughed at the offer. Manziel cited that Sumlin did the same thing to his Kliff Kingsbury the year prior.
According to Manziel, Kingsbury approached Sumlin after the 2012 season and asked to be the highest-paid offensive coordinator. Manziel won the Heisman in 2012, and Kingsbury would have returned to the Aggies for the 2013 season had Sumlin made him an offer.
The offer never came, and Kingsbury left Texas A&M to become the head coach of Texas Tech.
Johnny Manziel Talks About Depression And Relationship With LeBron James
"LeBron James would text me every week to come over and watch a game or play poker with the boys… I was so depressed that even the biggest role model in my life couldn't get me out of bed to hang out with him."
— Johnny Manziel
(via @ClubShayShay)pic.twitter.com/i7LqlFtdpg
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Manziel has been very open about his time with the Cleveland Browns, saying he suffered from depression. Manziel’s mental health affected his relationships, including his friendship with LeBron James, who was playing for the Cavaliers at the time.
“LeBron would text me every week to come over to the house and watch a game or play poker with the boys and just tried to be there,” Manziel said. “I was so depressed for the first time in my life that even my biggest role model and inspiration in my life couldn’t get me out of bed to come and hang out with him.”
Unfortunately, Manziel could not overcome his depression and expressed regret over how he handled the situation with James.
“When I went to the Cavs games I went. I was in, I was out. I didn’t really grasp and latch on to him in a way that I should have,” Manziel added. “And he tries to take me under his wing, and I’m just kind of nudging it away because of where my mental is and being just fully depressed, and where I was in my life. Is that an excuse? Absolutely not, because at the end of the day, the respect that I should have for them, giving me everything, should trump all else.”
Watch the full episode below.
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