Half a game? That’s what Johnny Manziel gets for the autograph-signing controversy, a first-half suspension in Saturday’s Texas A&M home opener against Rice?
What, did he forget to dot the “I” in Manziel?
After all the talk about what the Heisman Trophy winner did or did not make while signing autographs during the offseason, it turns out he’ll miss less playing time than if he had missed bed check the night before the game. The Aggie band will start the season before he does, but just barely. Stragglers arriving to their seats extra late from their tailgate parties might never know he was suspended.
Thirty minutes? That’s a suspension? That’s more like missing the team bus.
It’s likely that if the Rice game is a rout, Manziel would be going to the bench early anyway, perhaps missing much of the second half. So the NCAA just made it easy on Texas A&M Coach Kevin Sumlin, helping him decide which half Manziel would miss. No reason to overwork the kid with the Alabama game coming up in two weeks.
We’ve always known that NCAA rules could be confusing and strange. Now we know the same goes for NCAA punishment.
Obviously Manziel did something wrong or he wouldn’t be suspended. But what exactly was his transgression? Not having enough Sharpies?
Both the NCAA and the school said Manziel wasn’t paid for the autographs he signed. If he was, he obviously would be gone for quite a bit longer than 30 minutes, or so we would hope.
Manziel reportedly told the NCAA he wasn’t paid, so that appears to be the end of that. It’s similar to the Cam Newton ending, though, isn’t it? The individual schools are thrilled, while everyone else still smells the cash, or thinks they do, but just can’t prove it.
The NCAA and A&M still believe Manziel made a mistake, however, which is why he is being punished ... kind of. The school and the NCAA agreed that student-athletes such as Manziel — who really is more like an athlete-athlete, come to think of it — should know that when signing numerous autographs in one sitting, those autographs are likely to be sold for commercial purposes.
Truth be told, Manziel almost certainly did know that but went ahead with the signing anyway, although no one in College Station or Indianapolis (NCAA headquarters) wants to even think about that today.
They’d rather focus on the good news, which is that this episode is now officially over, and Manziel can continue on with the life he has been leading since he became the first freshman to win the Heisman Trophy late last season.
Which, of course, has been the problem all along.
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