Johnny Manziel recalls his Heisman Trophy-winning weekend

Johnny Manziel recalled his Heisman Trophy winning weekend was he was a freshman and boy it was quite a trip down memory lane.

The former Texas A&M star lit the college football world on fire and soon after, the party scene. Manziel was never shy about it back then and is not shy about talking about the good and bad of that time in his life.

But it is quite amusing to hear his perspective of the night right after he won the Heisman.

“The first year … when I won and went, the first year I was maybe, just turned 19,” Manziel said on Throwbacks. “So I wasn’t even really able to, like, go out and do anything. I’m sure at that time I was, like, really trying to find somewhere in New York, like, I couldn’t even drink legally for the most part. But, you know, I did have my dad there and stuff. They brought up a huge bucket of Budweisers or something. Just got to sit in one of the big suites. They upgraded to a nice, newer suite once you win it. 

“So I got to sit up there just with like, three or four of my boys from high school that came up with me for the trip. And just, I was sitting in Times Square and just sat in between the trophy and all this, and just slammed beers until as late as we possibly could. And then the next morning, it’s 6:30 a.m you got to go get on ESPN.”

The party animal could’ve stayed in college if NIL was a thing when he played at Texas A&M. Manziel leaned towards staying in college rather than go to the NFL early if that was a factor.

“Yeah, I think so, just because, I mean, you know, you get into your rookie contract if you’re not taken  high enough, I mean, you know, I could have stayed two more years in college and probably made what I made throughout the four years of your NFL deal for the most part,” Manziel said. “So I think it would have given me the opportunity to still be at a place today and then like that, be able to make money and be able to, you know, still continue to go play the college football life. It’s tough for me looking back, having left two years of eligibility on a table.”

Manziel burst onto the college football scene in 2012 when he became the first freshman to ever win the Heisman Trophy. That year, he threw for 3,706 yards and 26 touchdowns to help the Aggies to an 11-2 record. 

Along the way, he set multiple records, including one against Arkansas when he had 557 yards of total offense. That broke Archie Manning’s record, and Manziel broke his own mark just two games later with 576 yards of offense in a single game.

As a redshirt sophomore in 2013, Manziel threw for 4,114 yards and 37 touchdowns as he finished fifth in the Heisman voting. He then headed to Cleveland, where he spent two years before leaving the Browns and playing in other professional football leagues.