Johnny Manziel Skipping College GameDay Isn’t the Scandal People Think

People on the internet are losing their collective minds because Johnny Manziel did not show up for his appearance on College GameDay this week.

Manziel’s Texas A&M Aggies had the most-anticipated first-round matchup of the College Football Playoffs against the Miami Hurricanes. While Miami pulled off the narrow upset, it’s Manziel that’s stealing the headlines over a decade removed from his last game with the Aggies.

After spending the night in Miami at the Jake Paul vs. Anthony Joshua fight, Manziel was replaced by Alex Caruso on the GameDay desk. While ESPN had promoted that Texas A&M’s former Heisman quarterback would be the guest picker, it feels like the overreaction from this is a little bit overexaggerated.

This is Manziel we’re talking about. The quarterback that would infamously spend nights out partying ahead of games. There’s an inherent risk you take when you sign him up for something.

It’s like if you booked a rockstar but then got upset that the hotel room was a mess. It’s like inviting a wolf into your home and being upset that it’s not acting like a golden retriever.

This is what he does. This is who he is. And it’s always been that way.

To his credit, Manziel did issue an apology to the GameDay crew and the fans that were excited to see him on the set.

"I will have plenty more to say about what transpired yesterday. There is almost nothing on this Earth that would have made me miss that game," Manziel wrote. "To all the people that genuinely reached out and checked in on me, I cannot thank you enough.

To ESPN, Pat, Coach, Desmond, and the entire crew of GameDay, I apologize; it was out of my control. To the Aggies and A&M fan base, I'm sorry. "I will continue to let everyone out there run with a fake narrative, and at the end of the day, perception always wins over reality," Manziel added. "I love all of you who genuinely support me through good and bad, like you've all done for years. I have no doubt Texas A&M and the Aggie football program will be in that position again."

Manziel said that he was “recovering” and rated himself a 3/10, proclaiming that he was going to get some rest in order to try and get back to normal.

Hopefully Manziel is alright. After his Netflix documentary was released, it felt like he’s been on a bit of a redemption tour with successful podcast interviews and outside football business ventures.

It’s alright to put down your pitchforks towards him.