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We now know what Johnny Manziel reportedly told ESPN when he no-showed College GameDay.
On Saturday morning, Manziel was mysteriously absent from a scheduled College GameDay appearance at College Station despite being seen at the Jake Paul-Anthony Joshua fight the night before.
Johnny Manziel’s Instagram story the night before he was supposed to be College GameDay’s guest picker for his former school’s first playoff appearance #CFPplayoff pic.twitter.com/TRMvSQL5GD
— Leah Vann (@LVann_Sports) December 20, 2025
Former Texas A&M star QB Johnny Manziel NO-SHOWED his scheduled appearance on ESPN’s College Game Day in College Station this morning after spending Friday night attending the Jake Paul-Anthony Joshua fight in Miami 😬
Alex Caruso was made the guest picker instead. pic.twitter.com/ASYPYlt8Xu
— Football Forever (@fballforeverhq) December 20, 2025
Manziel apologized to ESPN and appeared to deny that partying in Miami was the reason he missed his GameDay appearance.
“I will have plenty more to say about what transpired yesterday,” Manziel wrote in an Instagram story. “There is almost nothing on this earth that would have made me miss that game. To all the people that genuinely reached out and checked in on me, I cannot thank you enough. To ESPN, Pat, Coach, Desmond, and the entire crew on GameDay, I apologize; it was out of my control. To the Aggies and A&M fanbase, I’m sorry. I will continue to let everyone out there run with a fake narrative, and at the end of the day, perception always wins over reality. I love all of you who genuinely support me through good and bad, like you’ve done for years”
According to Texas A&M beat writer Carter Karels, Manziel told ESPN that he contracted norovirus, also known as the stomach flu, and was unable to fly from Miami to Texas.
Via 247 Sports
The “College GameDay” crew learned that the 2012 Heisman Trophy winner had contracted norovirus and received word from him and his camp early Saturday morning, before the show started, that he would be absent, a source told GigEm247.
Manziel will likely address the situation on his podcast in the future.