Johnny Manziel rushes after TD in Fan Controlled Football league debut, says ‘win or lose, we splash’

Johnny Manziel found his way back onto the football field in a rather unique way Saturday night. The 2012 Heisman Trophy winner made his debut in the Fan Controlled Football league as a member of the Zappers. Manziel completed just one of his five passes of the night in 11 yards, but blinked a bit of the mobility that made him a standout at Texas A&M about a decade ago, rushing to 67 yards and a touchdown. But if the infant league did not give it away, Manziel was quick to notice that times have certainly changed as he was at the peak of his talents.

“Do you see me being caught from behind, too?” he said about his 38-yard run on his first game from scrimmage via USA today. “Times have changed. We are determined in 2021.”

Despite finding the end zone, Manziel, who was fired twice at night, fell and his zappers fell to the Beasts, 48-44. He said that although he is certainly not the player fighting for the Heisman Trophies at College Station, it was nice to get back on a field and felt that FCF “the product keeps getting better as the weeks go on.”

“Feels like I’m super washed, but still had it explosive,” Manziel said. “It was the funniest thing I’ve had in a while.”

In typical Johnny Football fashion, the quarterback also remarked, “win or loss we spread on the Zappers.”

This was Manziel’s first live action since 2019, when it was part of AAF’s Memphis Express. Prior to the chosen 2014 round selection of Cleveland Browns had a rapid period in CFL. As for the league he is currently participating in, FCF is a four-team league playing its games at the Infinite Energy Arena in Duluth, Georgia. It’s a 7-on-7 league where fans, as the name suggests, call the play and make the list. Teams in the league play a six-week schedule, and matches are streamed on Twitch from the league’s facility in Atlanta. The games last about an hour and the field is 50 x 35 yards with 10 yard end zones.