Texas A&M And Johnny Manziel Working Together To Trademark "Johnny Football"

Darren Rovell—who else?— has the news that on the heels of Texas A&M's upset of Alabama, the school is working in conjunction with the Manziel family to trademark the totally distinctive "Johnny Football" nickname the upstart quarterback has recently earned.

The news comes less than two weeks after an organization called Kenneth R. Reynolds Family Investments, based in College Station, Texas, filed for the "Johnny Football" trademark. The namesake of the investment company could be a former and since deceased Aggie booster of the same name.

Because the NCAA is both treacherous and stupid, this silly little news byte comes with a caveat. Neither Manziel nor the school can profit from the trademark—which, again, would be "Johnny Football"—if Manziel would like to preserve his eligibility. So, really, this is more of a preemptive move to preserve the family's right to the trademark for years later, when Johnny Manziel and "Johnny Football" will still be relevant and definitely not a college football footnote.

Two paragraphs later, Shane Hinckley, "assistant vice president of business development" for Texas A&M provides this nugget regarding Manziel:

Hinckley said his Aggie No. 2 hit the campus bookstore for the first time this season on Friday, with a bigger shipment coming on Monday.

The NCAA will allow the school—and its apparel partner Adidas—to sell a jersey with a student athlete's last name number on it, but that same student would lose his eligibility if he were to earn any profit from a poorly made t-shirt that has his first name and the name of the sport he plays on it.

A&M, family covet 'Johnny Football' [ESPN]