Johnny Manziel wants to go by a new name, says he rushed CFL decision

Johnny Manziel made an appearance on The Dan Patrick Show and dropped a couple bombshells, including wanting to go by a different name these days.

Johnny Football. It’s one of the great nicknames in college football history. It’s simple. It flows off the tongue. It’s cool. Apparently, Johnny Manziel is ready to kick the nickname to the curb, at least that’s how it sounded when he appeared on The Dan Patrick Show this morning.

Manziel started the interview responding to Dan Patrick’s introduction to tell him he’s actually been going by “John” and Patrick called him “the artist formerly known as Johnny Manziel” before commenting that Manziel may be growing up, to which Manziel responded “getting there.”

It would seem John Manziel wants the world to know he is putting his off-the-field problems behind him. This rebranding of sorts isn’t going to make him any more likely to sign with an NFL team this offseason. Teams still need to see him perform at a high level on the field. However, it can’t hurt if teams believe he has matured since his days with the Cleveland Browns.

Patrick also asked Manziel to clear up why he is no longer in the CFL. He explained why he made the decision to play there in the first place.

“I was so hungry to get back on the field and play, I took the first opportunity I did to get back on the field. When I looked up at things a year later, they weren’t exactly what they were when I originally signed with Hamilton and June Jones where I thought I was going to be learning the run and shoot, watching Colt Brennan highlight tapes to learn the offense from the Hawaii days. I have no regrets about going to Canada, it’s just one of those chapters in my life that now I’ve closed the book on and [I’m] looking forward to better things in my life moving forward.”

Patrick pushed him by asking if it was his decision or the CFL’s decision, but Manziel didn’t take the bait and instead said the Memphis Express was exactly what he needed. No details came out why the CFL forced the Montreal Alouettes to release Manziel and subsequently banned him from the league, and he wasn’t ready to share that information publicly either. Check out the full interview below.

Manziel’s comeback attempt has been widely publicized. He got crowds to see him play with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and in Montreal. He boosted the ratings of the AAF even when he wasn’t the starting quarterback. Manziel is, as ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith would say, “box office.”

The NFL isn’t hurting to sell tickets, unfortunately for John Manziel. He will have to win a coach over to get on an NFL field again. Where that is he couldn’t really say, mostly because he’s exhausted just about every resource he can. Will the XFL come calling? Stay tuned.

Jeff Shull is the Site Expert for the Gig Em Gazette on FanSided. Follow him on Twitter, and be sure to follow the Gig Em Gazette on Facebook and Twitter.