Getty Image
Manziel Mania overtook college football in the early 2010s as the freshman phenom excited in his debut season. Leading Texas A&M to 11 wins in its first SEC campaign, the quarterback won the Heisman trophy and solidified himself as the sport’s most impressive player.
From there, everything went downhill for Johnny Football.
The Aggies wouldn’t come close to matching that 2012 success the year prior, going 8-4 and losing to every ranked team they faced on the schedule.
While the Ags capped the season with a bowl game win over Duke, Manziel wishes things would’ve turned out differently.
“It f—s me up that I messed up our second year at Texas A&M… that was our chance to win a national title,” he said in an appearance on the Club Shay Shay podcast with Shannon Sharpe.
“I had a cool game against Duke, one that has a legendary tale on it, but I almost wish to this day that we would’ve lost that game – because I would’ve come back.
“Us having that legendary run against a bowl game, it’s kind of like, I kind of wish we would’ve lost. I would’ve come back with a vengeance.”
Manziel exploded in his TAMU finale, throwing for 382 yards, rushing for 73, and accounting for five touchdowns as the Aggies won 52-48.
After posting that big win, he elected to hit the NFL Draft.
Johnny Manziel regrets his time in the NFL.
The signal caller broke down about the way he handled his career in Cleveland, unveiling a laundry list of apologies to major names around the city.
Those included LeBron James and Joe Thomas, saying he wish he would’ve heeded advice as opposed to continuing on his downward spiral.
“Because of me signing with LeBron… I had the opportunity to be great in my own right. They gave me the best fighting chance and built a team around me. The thing I realize now is, the reason why they’re still p—ed at me to this day, is they don’t lose.
“They don’t bet on anything that’s not a sure thing. What I did, and the way I carried myself, and the way that I was during my time in Cleveland was pure and blatant disrespect to them giving me everything that I could’ve ever needed to be successful.”
“I didn’t grasp and latch on to him in the way that I should’ve.”
Manziel mentioned his declining mental health during his time with the Browns, which was noted in the Netflix documentary Untold: Johnny Football. It was a very dark time for the first-round pick.
He’d go on to apologize to Cleveland legend Joe Thomas, saying he let him down in his final NFL years when the city and the team needed a spark.
Instead of becoming a model version of the face of a franchise, he squandered opportunities.
“He was at the end of his Hall of Fame career, looking for someone to come in and lead this team, and then you get me… it’s embarrassing to be the guy that let down some great athletes.”
The quarterback would add names like Skip Bayless and Drake to his apology list, who also showed a belief in his abilities to both play and lead.
Reflection was top of mind for the Heisman winning passer in this one-on-one, as he looked back on what could’ve been. Check out the full episode below: