Johnny Manziel has maintained that his ultimate goal is still to play in the NFL again, and the former Heisman Trophy winner is willing to prove himself on any football field in order to get there.
Manziel, who spent a very brief time in the Alliance of American Football before the league went under, has been mentioned as a possible target for XFL teams. He was asked by TMZ this week about potentially playing in Vince McMahon’s league when it kicks off next year, and he made it clear he is open to it.
“Any football opportunity,” Manziel said. “That’s all it is, man. Ball 24/7.”
Oliver Luck, the CEO and commissioner of the XFL, told “The Ken Carmen Show with Anthony Lima” earlier this week that he is open to Manziel playing in the league.
“As long as he fits our profile, and our sort of behavioral standards, and quite honestly, a bigger challenge – as long as our eight head coaches think he’s one of the quarterbacks that can make us better, and we’ve got some guys that know quarterbacks fairly well, whether it’s Bob Stoops or Pep Hamilton, Jim Zorn – we’re going to rely heavily on our coaches to say, yes, these are the guys that will make our league better,” Luck said, via Shalise Manza Young of Yahoo Sports.
“If Manziel is in that group, I’m sure he might have that opportunity, but it really all depends on him, and we haven’t had any contact with him.”
McMahon has said players who have been convicted of crimes won’t be allowed to play in the XFL. While Manziel has had numerous off-field issues over the years, the charges that stemmed from him allegedly assaulting his girlfriend in 2016 were dropped after he reached a plea deal with prosecutors.
Manziel recently opened up once again about all the mistakes he has made, and he seems to be pretty good at talking people into giving him opportunities. If the XFL is hungry for star power, it could certainly do a lot worse than Johnny Football.
