Johnny Football regrets? Former Texas A&M star admits NIL would have changed things

There are few players in college football history who have reached the level of stardom Johnny Manziel did during his time at Texas A&M. Nicknamed "Johnny Football", the Heisman Trophy winner took the college football world by storm in 2012. He was a new era of gunslinger, willing to take crazy risks with his arm, combined with a preternatural ability to escape trouble in the pocket and scramble for big gains.

Manziel won the Heisman in 2012 by throwing for 3700 yards and 26 touchdowns, and adding 1400 rushing yards and 21 more touchdowns on the ground. His Heisman moment came in Bryant-Denny Stadium, when he led Texas A&M on the road to beat a Nick Saban-coached Alabama team that ultimately won the National Championship. This play is burned into the memory of every college football fan:

And yet, Manziel's run as a college football superstar was too short. After just two seasons as the starter at A&M, Manziel elected to enter the NFL Draft following his redshirt sophomore season. He bypassed two additional years of eligibility to cash in, a move that would have been nonsensical in the NIL era of today.

Manziel was selected with the 22nd overall pick by the Cleveland Browns in the 2014 draft. His pro career was a total bust, and he spent only two years in the NFL.

Had NIL been legal in Manziel's day, he says he never would have gone pro so early.

"I would have taken a pay cut had I gone to the NFL," Manziel told Greg McElroy on Always College Football.

"I think no matter what, being in the NIL era, if that would have been the equivalent of 2013, I would have stayed no matter what," Manziel continued. "Just because a couple of million bucks in College Station goes a really, really long way. And, you go to the NFL, you're a first round pick, you sign for $10 million or whatever it is, that's the two years that I had remaining at Texas A&M, to be able to make through NIL. So I think, for me, when I think back about it now, I definitely, if there would have any real money involved, I definitely would have stayed no matter what."

Johnny Manziel would have commanded a massive NIL payday

In today's NIL and Transfer Portal era, Johnny Football would have commanded a record-setting payday on the open market. It's likely that Texas A&M would have ponied up whatever it took to keep him in College Station, but any apprehension on their part could have led Manziel down a different path and to another program that would have paid him a pretty penny to transfer.

What gets forgotten in the Manziel saga is that he actually had two years of eligibility left when he went to the NFL. He obviously had his problems off the field, so there's no guarantee that he would have avoided trouble by remaining in college, particularly with the amount of money that would have been thrown his way.

His NFL career was probably destined to end the same way. His game was always more well-suited to the wide-open offenses in college.

Imagine how different college football might look if Manziel had stayed for two more years.