Johnny Manziel was replaced as ESPN’s College GameDay celebrity guest picker in an apparent last-minute switch.
Ahead of the Texas A&M vs. Miami College Football Playoff matchup on Saturday, December 20, Manziel was abruptly replaced on the show by Alex Caruso, a two-time NBA champion who played basketball at Texas A&M.
Manziel — the former Texas A&M quarterback who won the Heisman Trophy in 2012 — missed out on being part of his former school’s first-ever College Football Playoff appearance.
There was no explanation given for the last-second swap, but host Pat McAfee thanked Caruso for “stepping up.”
On Friday, December 19, Manziel posted videos on his Instagram story from the highly-anticipated boxing match between Jake Paul and Anthony Joshua at Kaseya Center in Miami. The bout ended just after midnight ET, giving Manziel limited hours to get to College Station, Texas, in time for the morning show, which starts at 9 a.m. ET.
Also on his Instagram story, Manziel posted pictures of bottles of vodka in what looked like his hotel room.
According to a social media post by Bleacher Report, Manziel was also scheduled to be part of the outlet’s pregame show at 10 a.m. ET — an apparent conflict with the ESPN show.
He did not appear on either program.
During his college football days, Manziel looked like an elite talent in just two seasons with the Aggies. In his 2012 Heisman Trophy-winning season, he became the first-ever freshman to earn the prestigious award.
Johnny Manziel Getty Images
He was drafted into the NFL by the Cleveland Browns in 2014, but only lasted two seasons there due to personal issues, including drug use. He’s only played in 14 NFL games, all with the Browns.
In the 2023 Netflix documentary, Untold: Johnny Football, Manziel shared more details about his battles with substance abuse and mental health, and how it affected his football career on and off the field.
He revealed that he attempted to take his own life after getting caught up in public scandals.
“When I had gotten everything I’d ever wanted, I think I was the most empty that I ever felt inside. I think I was trying to suppress how I felt and get out of being Johnny Football,” he said at the time. “[I] had bought a gun that I knew I was going to use. I had planned to do everything that I wanted to do at that point in my life, spend as much money as I possibly could, and then my plan was to take my own life.”
Manziel also described his time in Cleveland, saying his condo was “the only place that [I could] get away from everybody and everything.”
Johnny Manziel’s rise and fall transcended football — and he’s pulling back the curtain on his controversies and mental health struggles for the first time in Netflix’s Untold: Johnny Football. Texas A&M fans may remember Manziel’s college career got off to a rocky start when he was arrested weeks before his first game as the […]
“And I would look out those windows, every day I just felt empty. I went from one fish bowl city to another and I wanted nothing to do with football,” he said.
Earlier this year, Manziel competed in season 4 of the competition show, “Special Forces,” lasting until the fourth episode before dropping out of the intense contest.
On the show, he shared more about his successes and struggles throughout his football career.
“After I got my most success and won the Heisman Trophy as a freshman, I think I just got treated differently,” Manziel shared on a September 2025 episode. “I lost a huge part of my work ethic [and] I gave up on a real opportunity, a football career, and walked away from it pretty quick.”
If you or someone you know is in emotional distress or considering suicide, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
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