Johnny Manziel was investigated by the NCAA for getting paid to sign autographs when he was at Texas A&M back in 2013. Manziel denied at the time that he was ever paid to sign any piece of memorabilia, but the former Heisman Trophy winner has now come clean.
Manziel made an appearance on Barstool Sports’ “Bussin With The Boys” podcast this week, and he openly talked about getting paid thousands of dollars to sign autographs prior to his sophomore season at Texas A&M. He said he was approached by a guy who asked him if he’d like to make $3,000 to sign some memorabilia, to which he replied, “F— yeah.”
“So I take this guy’s number down. We’re doing it all sneaky. We don’t want to get caught. We’re trying to learn from everybody else who got caught,” Manziel recalled. “And then I may or may not have gone back to this guy’s condo and signed, probably, 10,000 pieces. He gave me 3 grand.”
Manziel said at that point he was on Instagram trying to figure out how to get a table at LIV Nightclub, which is in Miami Beach. That meshes with the report from years ago that Manziel was approached at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport the day before attending the BCS National Championship Game between Alabama and Notre Dame.
The story got better from there. Manziel said another man who was bringing pictures over to him at the first autograph signing made him a much better offer. Manziel took that one, too.
“He’s like, ‘Yo, you’re getting ripped off. Here’s this guy’s number. Hit him up. He’ll give you 30 grand,'” Manziel said. “And I’m like, ‘F— yeah, man. I’m gonna make $3,000 and then $30,000.'”
Manziel said he went to a room at the Fontainebleau hotel in Miami Beach and signed more memorabilia. The person he made the deal with told him to take a picture when he was done and he’d get the code to a safe where his money was located.
“I got to make a decent living in college,” Manziel said.
Manziel insisted he never took a dime before he won his Heisman Trophy. He joked that the NCAA can take his sophomore season away from him since the Aggies only went 9-4 and beat Duke in the Chick-fil-A Bowl.
Manziel has accused the NCAA of trying to ruin his college career. He explained a few years back how he was able to avoid being tracked by them. The autograph scandal in 2013 resulted in him being suspended for the first half of A&M’s game against Rice. We highly doubt the NCAA will do anything else about it now.
You can hear Manziel’s full story about signing autographs below, but beware that it contains inappropriate language.
Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski met with the media on Thursday to confirm that he will retire after the upcoming season, and let’s just say he was not quiet about it.
Coach K entered his press conference with Cascada’s “Everytime We Touch” blaring over the PA system at Cameron Indoor Stadium. He even did a little dance before he sat down to deliver the news and take questions. Check it out:
Those who are familiar with Duke games know the song selection was not random. The Cameron Crazies have been getting hyped to that song before games for years, as you can see in the video below:
It’s clear that the 2021-22 season is going to be the Coach K retirement tour. Krzyzewski has already received nice tributes from some of his biggest rivals, and that is sure to continue over the next several months.
Chris Paul has proven this season that he is still capable of playing at a high level on a winning team, and the veteran point guard could look to parlay that success into another massive contract.
Paul has a player option for the 2021-22 season that is worth just north of $44 million. That is excellent money for a soon-to-be 37-year-old who has battled injuries in recent years, but CP3 is aiming higher. According to Bleacher Report’s Eric Pincus, Paul is expected to decline his option in hopes of signing a long-term deal.
While it is unclear if Paul’s recent shoulder injury will change his plans, Pincus speculates that the 11-time All-Star could seek a deal worth around $100 million over three seasons.
A three-year deal would take Paul almost to his 40th birthday. That is a lot of money to commit to a player in his late-30s who has missed quite a few games in recent seasons, but Paul is viewed as an important veteran leader. That will help him when shopping himself around this summer.
Paul and the Suns have a 3-2 series lead over the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers. CP3 injured his shoulder in Game 1 and reaggravated it again on Tuesday night, but we know from his quote earlier in the series that he is going to do everything he can to suit up in Game 6 on Thursday night.
The Boston Celtics have begun their search for a new head coach after making enormous organizational changes this week. A ton of names have been thrown around by reporters and fans as potential candidates, but Kevin Garnett says we can scratch his name off the list.
Garnett took to Instagram on Wednesday to respond to the talk of him becoming the next head coach of the Celtics. The Hall of Famer said in no uncertain terms that he is not interested. In fact, it doesn’t sound like he ever intends to coach.
Garnett joked that he would be “hired n fired all in the same week,” so he obviously doesn’t feel like he’s cut out for coaching in the NBA. He reminded us this week of how much he loves the Celtics when he blasted Kyrie Irving, but that doesn’t mean he wants to coach them.
Brad Stevens has taken over as president of basketball operations in Boston after Danny Ainge stepped down. Stevens will now lead the search for his successor, and a few candidates have already emerged. Garnett apparently is not one of them.
Amazon secured the rights earlier this year to exclusively broadcast “Thursday Night Football” games beginning in 2022, and the streaming juggernaut is now aiming to make a huge hire in the play-by-play department.
Andrew Marchand of the New York Post reports that Al Michaels is Amazon’s top choice to call “Thursday Night Football” when its exclusive package begins. NBC has been a part of the discussions and could include some of its top production people as part of a potential deal.
Amazon also has interest in FOX’s Joe Buck and CBS’ Ian Eagle, but Marchand reports that Michaels is currently the focus.
Michaels is entering the final year of his deal with NBC. Any potential deal with Amazon will not impact his work with NBC this season, which will conclude with Michaels calling the Super Bowl in his hometown of Los Angeles. It’s possible that Michaels could join Amazon in 2022 and also remain with NBC in a lesser role.
To be clear, the negotiations are not about Amazon poaching Michaels away from NBC. The network has also been involved in the discussions and could become part of the deal.
NBC hired Mike Tirico several years ago as an eventual replacement for Michaels. Tirico has already called some games in place of Michaels alongside Cris Collinsworth. NBC also hired Drew Brees, and there has been speculation that he could take over Collinsworth’s job at some point.
Michaels, 76, would command a massive salary wherever he goes. Amazon will likely face some competition, as we know at least one other major TV network has pursued Michaels in recent years.
A Nike shoe that was designed to honor Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna has recently somehow leaked, and Vanessa Bryant is extremely upset over the situation.
In an Instagram post on Thursday, Vanessa explained that she designed the shoe in honor of Gianna. She said the sneaker was going to be called the “MAMBACITA” but that she never approved it for sale. Vanessa also said Nike never sent her or her family any pairs of the shoes and asked for help in figuring out how they leaked.
“This is a shoe I worked on in honor of my daughter, Gianna,” Vanessa wrote. “It was going to be called the MAMBACITA shoe as an exclusive black and white colorway on her daddy’s shoes. I picked the colors in honor of her uniform, the number 2 she wore just like her uniform, the inside pattern, Kobe and Gigi on the back in gold instead of Kobe’s signature, the inside shoe details (butterfly, wings, halo), etc. The MAMBACITA shoes are NOT approved for sale.
“I wanted it to be sold to honor my daughter with ALL of the proceeds benefitting @mambamambacitasports foundation but I did not re-sign the Nike contract and decided not to sell these shoes. (The MAMBACITA shoes were not approved to be made in the first place). Nike has NOT sent any of these pairs to me and my girls. I do not know how someone else has their hands on shoes I designed in honor of my daughter, Gigi, and we don’t. I hope these shoes did not get sold. @nike.”
You can see Vanessa’s full post below, which includes a photo of the shoe:
One Instagram user who shared photos of the shoe last month says he does not have a pair in his possession. The user, whose handle is brandon1an, claims the leak came from an authorized Nike dealer.
“I just want to make it clear that I don’t own a pair of those Mambacita Kobes,” the Instagram user wrote, via TMZ. “The pictures I posted are official product pictures from a Nike authorized retailer. Unfortunately for @vanessabryant, Nike clearly sent pairs to this retailer (as well as others) with the intent of selling pairs.”
As Vanessa mentioned, she recently chose not to renew Kobe’s contract with Nike. Kobe had been with Nike for 17 years leading up to his death in January 2020. It was recently claimed that he had been planning to leave Nike to start his own show company prior to his death.
Kobe was famously loyal to Nike during his career, but the relationship between Nike and the Bryant family seems to have deteriorated.
The New York Knicks were eliminated from the playoffs on Wednesday night after they lost to the Atlanta Hawks in Game 5. Derrick Rose had a rough night shooting, and there is a chance it may have been his last with the Knicks. He is hoping that is not the case, however.
After the 103-89 loss, Rose was asked by a reporter if he thinks he will be back with the Knicks next season. He said that decision is out of his control but made it clear he would love to return.
“That’s up to the front office. They’ve got big plans,” Rose said. “Who knows if I may be back. … It’s really not up to me at all, but I would love to come back. Who wouldn’t want to play for the Knicks and be in New York? I would love it, but at the same time I know it’s out of my hands and they may have bigger plans.”
Rose averaged 14.9 points and played 26.8 minutes per game in 35 games with the Knicks after they acquired him in a trade with the Detroit Pistons. While New York is looking to upgrade at point guard this offseason, Rose has a strong relationship with head coach Tom Thibodeau. There should be mutual interest in him coming back if the cost is reasonable.
Rose is 32 and has had multiple knee surgeries, but he has some fairly new methods for staying healthy. He’s still capable of being a productive player and should draw plenty of interest on the free agent market.
As for the “bigger plans” Rose alluded to, the Knicks appear to be firmly in the market for a star player or two this offseason.
Trae Young did something fairly unique towards the end of his Atlanta Hawks’ series-clinching win over the New York Knicks on Wednesday night.
Young made a 3-pointer with 43.7 seconds left in Game 5 to put Atlanta up 101-86. After his made shot, Young gave a bow.
So what was Young’s reason for the bow? He said he concluded his performance the same way performers at shows on Broadway do.
Young was having fun mixing with Knicks fans the entire series, so it was only fitting he ended things that way. The guy sure knows how to entertain and put on a show.
A fan in Buffalo savagely trolled Toronto sports fans with a sign on Wednesday night.
The Blue Jays have been unable to play home games in Toronto all season due to Canada’s COVID-19 related travel restrictions. They began the season playing games in Dunedin, Fla. for two months. Now the Blue Jays are moving to their Triple-A facility in Buffalo to escape the Florida heat.
The Jays opened the homestand with a win at Sahlen Field on Tuesday. They won again on Wednesday, which is when the Buffalo fan trolled them.
The fan held up a sign that said: “The Leafs blew a 3-1 lead and we stole your baseball team!”
That is brutal.
The Leafs were up 3-1 in their first-round series with the Montreal Canadiens but lost three straight and got eliminated. The team hasn’t won a playoff series since 2004. And now the Blue Jays are playing in Buffalo for the summer.
Oh yeah, and the Raptors went 27-45 this season. It’s rough out there for Toronto fans. Buffalo might not have a ton to brag about, but at least the Bills have been good the last few years.
Alex Rodriguez is part of a group that recently agreed to buy the Minnesota Timberwolves, and the group reportedly has some big plans.
The Pioneer Press’ Charley Walters published a lengthy notes column on Saturday that was full of juicy nuggets. One of the nuggets said that Rodriguez’s group was planning to involve Timberwolves legend Kevin Garnett in the franchise. However, there is one problem.
According to Walters, Rodriguez’s group would like to move the Timberwolves to Seattle, while KG wants to keep them in Minnesota.
A Timberwolves minority owner is suing to stop the sale because he feels he should have tag-along rights, which would allow him to sell his stake at a higher valuation.
The Timberwolves have been around since the 1989-1990 season. Seattle had the SuperSonics from 1967-2008, until they moved to Oklahoma City and became the Thunder.
Seattle is hungry for a franchise. If they don’t get the Timberwolves, they could end up with an expansion team.
