Johnny Manziel earned celebrity status while in college, which was great for his fame but bad for questions about his status as an amateur. After all, some wondered how a college student could afford to do all the things the Heisman Trophy winner was doing, such as traveling from city to city and taking in major entertainment events.
On his “ComebackSzn” podcast on Barstool Sports, Manziel says the NCAA was harassing him every time he was seen at an event, tracking all his moves. He says they would ask for invoices to show how he paid for things because they apparently were concerned that he was receiving money under the table.
The former Texas A&M quarterback says he worked around all that by paying for things in cash.
The NCAA got so ridiculous they were tracking @JManziel2's every move, but Johnny ways around that
New EP of ComebackSZN out now: https://t.co/Solf3NhP9d pic.twitter.com/VlCK6IFUSo
— Comeback Szn (@comebacksznshow) June 20, 2018
Straight cash homie @NCAA #ComebackSZN https://t.co/h2hajGuiAE
— Johnny Manziel (@JManziel2) June 21, 2018
This isn’t the first time Manziel has talked about his issues with the NCAA.
“They tried to end me. They tried to really ruin my college career. If it wasn’t for my family and being able to hire a really good attorney, do what I need to do, the NCAA,” Manziel said on Barstool’s “Pardon My Take” podcast earlier this year.
The NCAA investigated Manziel in 2013 for allegedly getting paid to sign autographs. He ended up being suspended for the first half of A&M’s game against Rice as punishment.
An online investigation later revealed that Manziel’s family has a great deal of wealth, so many used that as an explanation for his spending while in college. But like Manziel said, he went the all-cash route to pay for things to avoid questions.
