McKinnley Jackson on Johnny Manziel: ‘He is NIL before NIL’

When Johnny Manziel was at Texas A&M, he became a national name. His rise to stardom came quickly as he became the first freshman to ever win the Heisman Trophy and “Johnny Football” cemented himself as arguably the face of the game.

It’s also worth wondering how Manziel would have fared in the NIL era. McKinnley Jackson talked about that at SEC Media Days this week, giving Manziel some high praise for how he changed the game.

“A tremendous player, changed the game of football. Definitely brought the swag. He is NIL before NIL,” Jackson told reporters at the Grand Hyatt in Nashville. “He’s got a certain juice to himself. A player that’s going to pop the collar, but is not afraid to back down from competition.”

Manziel’s career at Texas A&M was an interesting one. He became the first freshman to ever win the Heisman Trophy as 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 declared for the NFL Draft in 2014 and the Cleveland Browns selected him with the No. 22 overall pick.

Jackson thinks Manziel’s career was one of the best in college football history. He went so far as to declare him his “GOAT of college football,” as well.

“The GOAT of college football? Man. I’m gonna say Johnny Manziel,” Jackson said. “He’s my GOAT. I don’t know about y’all, but he’s my GOAT of college football.”

Manziel’s career is the subject of an upcoming Netflix documentary as part of its “Untold” series. “Johnny Football” will premiere Aug. 8.

More on Johnny Manziel’s unique career at Texas A&M

Although Manziel wowed fans on the field, he found himself in the middle of controversy off the gridiron. Before the 2012 season, he was arrested for disorderly conduct, failure to produce identification and possession of a fictitious driver’s license.

Then, during the 2013 season, Manziel notably got kicked out of a fraternity party at Texas and he wound up at the center of an investigation into allegations he accepted payments for autographs. While the NCAA determined Manziel didn’t accept money for the autographs, he still received a suspension for an “inadvertent violation” of NCAA rules.

Manziel’s time in the NFL was also short-lived after videos showed him partying and at a casino before the final game of the 2015 season. Cleveland released him in March 2016 after just two seasons with the franchise.