Will Johnny Manziel be suspended?
By Josh Sanchez
News surfaced on Sunday night that Texas A&M Aggies star quarterback Johnny Manziel was under investigation by the NCAA to determine whether he accepted money in exchange for signing hundreds of pieces of sports memorabilia for a collector in Miami during the weekend of the National Championship Game.
In the past, Manziel has been in the headlines for his drinking habits and anger issues, but the latest news could actually hurt his NCAA career.
So, the question everyone is asking is: Will Johnny Manziel be suspended?
What the NCAA is currently investigating is to see if Manziel has violated NCAA Bylaw 12.5.2.1 — accepting money for promoting or advertising the commercial sale of a product or service. If that is found to be true, Manziel could be ruled ineligible, which would set off a snowball effect and media storm that could make the headlines even more unbearable.
In order to rule Manziel ineligible and deliver a devastating blow to the Aggies season, they would need to prove without a shadow of a doubt that cash exchanged hands. If the two parties made a straight cash exchange, then it could be virtually untraceable.
However, if Manziel was dumb enough to let the collector deposit a large amount in his bank account, that could be traceable.
When it all comes down to it, the NCAA has plenty to look in to, but it is going to be hard to prove that the money was exchanged for the autographs unless there is hard proof. Eye-witnesses may have seen something go down, but they would need to get those people to step up and speak out.
In the meantime, Manziel will be free to do Johnny Football things on the field.
If Manziel is ruled out for the team this season, junior Matt Joeckel, the brother of the No. 2 overall pick Luke Joeckel in the 2013 NFL Draft, would be the team’s leading man.