Johnny Manziel Nearly Transferred Before 2012 Heisman Winning Season
By Josh Sanchez
Texas A&M Aggies quarterback Johnny Manziel is one of the biggest stars in college football and he is a celebrity in College Station. However, last year we were just one appeal away from Manziel seeking out a transfer and moving on from the Aggies, according to a report.
After Manziel was involved in a bar fight and found with fake IDs, he was hit with discipline from the university, but an appeal wiped out a season long suspension that allowed us all to witness his record-breaking 2012 season that ended with a Heisman Trophy.
"A&M initially suspended Manziel for the 2012 season following his arrest in College Station’s Northgate bar district last summer, a source with knowledge of the situation told SportsDay.Manziel, entering his freshman season after sitting out the 2011 season as a redshirt, would have felt it was necessary to transfer if the suspension wasn’t overturned on appeal, according to the source.Manziel won the appeal, allowing the Heisman Trophy winning season in A&M’s 11-2 SEC debut and the rise of the Aggies to transpire."
Needless to say, Texas A&M and their fans have to be happy with how things played out.
For the fans, Manziel has given them something exciting to cheer for and he has really taken the team to the next level, while the university benefits from his success with more money that will go towards stadium and facility upgrades that only help with recruiting down the line.
People often forget that Manziel was initially supposed to miss the entire season because of his suspension and that he was slated to be the back up when he was reinstated, but that day came in August when head coach Kevin Sumlin named Manziel the starter just weeks before the season-opener and the rest is history.
That appeal changed it all.
If Manziel would have been shut down, he would have been heading elsewhere and we may have never been introduced to the Johnny Football phenomenon on a national stage.