Few players have been as polarizing and have taken over College Football quite like Johnny Manziel did during his time at Texas A&M. As a Redshirt Freshman, Johnny Manziel went from a relative unknown to a household name with electrifying plays that had everyone dying to watch his next game. During his time in College Station, Johnny Manziel made Texas A&M the best show in the sport bringing never before seen attention to Texas A&M.
If Johnny Manziel played in the NIL and Revenue Sharing era, there may not have been a bigger star as "Money Manziel" was a walking highlight reel constantly finding himself at the top of ESPN shows and all over social media.
This week, Johnny Manziel appeared on Always College Football with Greg McElroy talking about his takeover of College Football. During the interview, Johnny Manziel talked about the current era of College Football and how he feels he would've been taking a pay cut to leave for the NFL.
"I tell people this all the time, and they asked me this, I really feel like I would have taken a pay cut had I gone to the NFL, I mean, that’s really what it would have been. I mean, it is crazy times that we’re living, and I think, you know, in a lot of areas, still figuring out exactly how to make it work the right way, where it’s not just the biggest boosters and the richest schools. If you look at A&M, you know, I feel like we’ve put a ton of money in it to our NIL, and it hasn’t necessarily translated onto the field. "Johnny Manziel
At a program like Texas A&M, there's no doubt that Johnny Manziel could've made ridiculous amounts of money especially when you see some of the current NIL deals made for unproven players. The Aggies have famously been one of the biggest spenders when it comes to NIL as Jimbo Fisher and his staff landed one of the most loaded recruiting classes of All-Time.
Johnny Manziel was the Golden Goose for Texas A&M and his play on the field was thanked specifically for helping raise the money to pay for Texas A&M's renovation of Kyle Field.
"The stars came together. We talked about this project for a long, long time. But none of us were sure how quick we could pay for this project. And because of a young man by the name of Johnny Manziel, we were able to raise all the money in two months. My vision is someday, I hope, the Aggie Nation will come together and decide that we can revise the name of Kyle Field to Kyle Field, the House That Johnny Built."Jim Schwertner
While Texas A&M was able to raise enough money to undergo a $450 Million renovation, Johnny Manziel wasn't able to be paid according to the NCAA's rules at the time. If Manziel was able to earn NIL money at that time rather than going into the NFL Draft he could've earned a jaw-dropping figure to stick in College Station one more year.
Unfortunately for Johnny Manziel, he was ahead of his time but, in this new era of College Football, the next star to transform a program will be able to get his piece of the pie.