At the behest of the Canadian Football League, the Montreal Alouettes released former NFL quarterback Johnny Manziel on Wednesday.
The move came after Johnny Football allegedly “contravened the agreement which made him eligible to play.” Not only was Manziel released by Montreal, he’s barred from playing on any other team in the league.
One day after the release, Hall of Fame quarterback Warren Moon is speaking out on the situation. He has a rather interesting take.
“Maybe he did that on purpose,” Moon told TMZ Sports. “Because now there’s other options out there. There’s more opportunities for him to play in the United States than play in Canada, so maybe that’s part of the reason why he violated some of those restrictions in his contract.”
For its part, the Alliance of American Football has given teams permission to speak to the former Texas A&M standout about joining the upstart league. That could very well be what Moon is talking about here.
After news of the release broke, Manziel released a statement on social media.
“I want to thank Coach Sherman, my teammates, and the CFL fans. My time there reestablished my love for the game of football and the work that goes into it,” Manziel wrote on Twitter. “I look forward to exploring new options within the United States.”
Needless to say, Manziel now has his sights set on playing domestically again. Whether that comes to fruition remains to be seen.
A first-round pick of the Cleveland Browns back in 2014, Manziel’s NFL career bombed out after two seasons. He had dealt with myriad substance abuse issues. Since then, Manziel is said to be sober and has married.
It will be interesting to see what comes of this situation over the next several days and weeks.
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