Now that the AAF has folded, the one question on everyone’s (well, not everyone, but people who were remotely aware of the AAF’s existence) mind is: what will happen to Johnny Manziel?
In the immediate aftermath, Manziel seems to be taking up the role of advice giver. Following the news that the league is on the verge of folding, Manziel responded to the league’s collapse in a tweet, telling the league’s players to “save your money” and “keep your head up” because there isn’t anything that “will get you your bread.”
“If you’re an AAF player and the league does dissolve. The last check you got will be the last one that you get. No lawsuit or anything else will get you your bread. Save your money and keep your head up. It’s the only choice at this point unless something drastic happens,” Manziel tweeted.
But is this the end of the road for Manziel? Certainly, on the periphery of the NFL, that’s for sure.
After getting traded by the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and getting cut from Montreal Alouettes, the AAF appeared to be Manziel’s last legitimate shot at a road to redemption.
Manziel, who was dubbed “Johnny Football” during his electric college days at Texas A&M, was drafted by the Cleveland Browns with the 22nd overall pick in the 2014 NFL draft. However, unfortunately for both Manziel and football fans, his career was all downhill from there.
Manziel was never the poster boy for maturity and decision-making, so being drafted to the NFL’s most dysfunctional franchise only accelerated his rapid descent into irrelevancy.
Following two controversy-filled years in Cleveland, Manziel was released by the Browns and was not even given another sniff at the league, forcing him to make his way up north to Canada.
The CFL wasn’t any kinder to the former youngest-ever Heisman Trophy winner, as he bounced from one team to the next before ultimately being released at the start of 2019.
Seemingly hitting rock bottom with the Memphis Express of the AAF, Manziel is now teamless once again, which certainly begs the question of whether or not will ever see Johnny Football in a football uniform again.
And unless Manziel decides to become the face of the XFL, then it appears as the Johnny Football experiment may have finally come to an end.