New Manziel Drama

The saga continues. In the last couple of days, allegations have surfaced that Johnny Manziel was selling autographs for money, which is illegal under the NCAA. Today, it is being reported that the broker who was selling Manziel's autograph showed ESPN's Joe Schad video of Manziel signing the autographs. At one point, Manziel supposedly says that if he (the broker) tells anyone about this, he will stop doing business in the future. If the NCAA is going to come down on Manziel, they are going to need more evidence than that but at the moment, he looks like he could be a lot of trouble if this follows through. Regardless of what you think about how the NCAA leeches off of college athletes, the fact remains that it is still a violation of the NCAA's rules. If he is found to be guilty of this "crime", he is probably going to lose a year of eligibility. And if that happens, there is no way he returns for his redshirt junior year. This news is already starting to have effects on the college football world. A&M has dropped in odds for the Title, and Manziel has also dropped as a favorite for the Heisman. Cam Newton faced similar allegations and walked away unscathed after an investigation, so we all need to just sit back and watch how it unfolds.

I'll be updating this as more information becomes available.

Update for 8/7/13
Earlier today, a guy I've been following on Twitter for a couple of years now (@IBNincarcerated ) tweeted that sources told him Manziel would be declared ineligible. Over the few years I've followed this guy, he has reported on suspensions, signings, and all other happenings across all sports with insane accuracy. He usually reports these things days before other major media outlets like SI or ESPN report them. Basically, if he says his sources told him what is going to happen, bet your bottom dollar he'll be right.

Now, about Manziel. If this is true that he will be declared ineligible, this doesn't mean his season is over. Remember, Cam Newton was ruled ineligible for all of 18 hours before the NCAA realized he was too important to their profits and reinstated him. This seems almost like precautionary measure. The only real evidence against him at this point is that video the broker took on his phone. The NCAA will be able to access his bank records and ATM statements to see if there is any further evidence, but at this point the evidence against him is pretty minimal. To be honest, there was probably more against Newton than Manziel has, so the future isn't totally shattered for him at A&M this year. However, with the Alabama game coming in just five weeks, they need to get this settled now to halt all the distractions.