Sports

Evidence of autographs for cash piles up against Heisman-winner Manziel: report

Johnny Football’s headline-making offseason may stretch into and replace his actual season this year if new allegations are true.

An autograph broker told ESPN that Johnny Manziel, the reigning Heisman Trophy winner, was paid $7,500 for signing about 300 helmets on Jan. 11-12 while attending a Walter Camp Football Foundation event.

ESPN saw the broker’s footage of the Texas A&M now sophomore quarterback signing helmets, and while no money is exchanged on camera, Manziel, who seems unaware that he is being filmed, uses incriminating language.

“You never did a signing with me,” Manziel says. If the broker were to tell anyone about the signings, Manziel would not deal with him again, according to ESPN.

At another point, the broker asks Maniel if he would accept additional money to sign with special inscriptions, which he declined, as he indicated that he had done so before and it led to questions.

The evidence against Manziel — save on-camera exchanges of cash — seems to be piling up, and if the NCAA finds the controversial subject of a recent ESPN The Magazine piece has accepted money for using his name to “advertise, recommend or promote” commercial products, he could be ruled ineligible this season.

There has been much backlash to the NCAA investigations and its’s adherence to its amateur rules, including an embarrassing incident yesterday for the organization.

ESPN’s Jay Bilas tweeted that when a user types “Manziel” into the ShopNCAAsports.com search bar, Manziel’s Texas A&M jersey appears. He was pointing out the disjointed nature of amateurism, in which the NCAA can profit from Manziel’s likeness, while Manziel, himself, cannot.

After Bilas tweeted more examples of other NCAA athletes and Twitter was abuzz with anti-NCAA sentiment, the website’s search engine became disabled.