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Johnny Manziel’s Netflix documentary has provided college football fans with both drama and entertainment as we reach the tail end of the offseason. The show details the quarterback’s rise to fame as well as his noted off-the-field issues.
Within the doc, viewers are filled in on the impermissible benefits the Heisman trophy winner received in College Station. One fan compared Manziel’s activities to those of Reggie Bush, who had his Heisman taken away by the NCAA.
Manziel took over the college football scene while playing for the Aggies, being named the sport’s top player in 2012. That freshman season saw the gunslinger throw for 3,706 yards and 26 touchdowns while adding another 1,410 yards and 21 scores on the ground.
Fame would soon overtake the signal caller’s life.
One aspect of that overnight attention was the receipt of benefits deemed illegal by the NCAA. The quarterback detailed how he’d be paid large sums of cash in exchange for autographs, which he’d deposit into his grandfather’s bank account. His granddad would then write Manziel a check to avoid being caught.
His team went as far as to contrive a false narrative of family wealth in order to keep the NCAA from getting suspicious about his suddenly expensive lifestyle.
It worked.
After watching the documentary, and seeing Manziel admit to the illegal activities, one viewer compared the situation to that of Reggie Bush.
Bush famously had his Heisman trophy revoked due to his receiving impermissible benefits while playing at USC. How was Manziel’s scenario different?
🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔 pic.twitter.com/T8AokTe6dW
— JPAFootball (@jasrifootball) August 11, 2023
Manziel replied to the tweet, giving his opinion on Reggie Bush while also detailing how their situations were somewhat different.
“There is nothing I want to see more than for Reggie [Bush] to get his Heisman back,” Manziel wrote. “I think what the NCAA did in that situation is complete bulls—. He is one of the best college football players in history and deserves to be on that stage with us every year. The only difference between my story and Reggie’s is that my ‘illegal activities’ did not start until after my Heisman season.”
Fans and followers were quick to comment on that opinion.
Most agreed with Manziel, with this person saying, “Give Reggie Bush his Heisman back!”
Someone else replied, “The NCAA is so hypocritical about so many things. I agree, give Reggie back his Heisman!”
It’s probably about time to hand it over considering the current landscape in college football.