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Johnny Manziel Apologizes to ESPN on Sunday

Originally posted on Athlon Sports
By Kevin Matthew Borba | Last updated Dec 21, 2025 4:33 PM ET

The first round of this year's College Football Playoff came and went over the past couple of days, and while there aren't any questions as to whether or not the best teams won, there was one question coming out of the opening round.

ESPN's "College GameDay" was in College Station Saturday morning to preview the matchup between the No. 10-seed Miami Hurricanes and No. 7-seed Texas A&M Aggies. In the days leading up to the game, the iconic pregame show announced that 2012 Heisman winner and Texas A&M's former star quarterback Johnny Manziel would be the guest picker.

However, on Saturday, Manziel was nowhere to be found while Oklahoma City Thunder guard and former Texas A&M star Alex Caruso was seemingly brought in as a replacement guest picker.

On Sunday, Manziel revealed via an Instagram story that he was dealing with something that has left him feeling "about a 3/10."

Manziel also made it very clear that if things were in his control he would not have missed the game, and apologized to ESPN, Pat McAfee, Nick Saban and Desmond Howard. While he didn't specify what prevented him from attending the game, Manziel was in Miami the night before to take in the boxing match between Jake Paul and Anthony Joshua.

"College GameDay" wasn't the only obligation that Manziel missed, as he was also supposed to provide content for Bleacher Report from the sidelines throughout the game.

It's unclear at this time what Manziel was dealing with, but clearly the 33-year-old feels terrible about it.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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