Former Heisman Trophy winner and Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel said Thursday that he earned about $33,000 selling autographs while in college.
Speaking to Barstool Sports, Manziel described the money he made as “somewhat of a decent living,” according to Yahoo Sports.
Manziel said he didn’t take any money for autographs until after he’d won the Heisman in 2012 when he was approached by a man who offered him $3,000 for an autograph.
“We're doing it all sneaky, we don't want to get caught, we're trying to learn from everybody else who's got caught," Manziel said. "And I may or may not have gone back to this guy's condo and signed probably 10,000 pieces. He gave me three grand."
Manziel was later connected with a person who offered him $30,000.
"So this guy is like, 'All right, go to this room at the Fontainebleau. All this stuff will be in there laid out, and when you're done, just send me a picture of all of it, I'll give you the code to the safe, the money will be in there,'" Manziel said.
The NCAA was not entirely in the dark. The association investigated Manziel before his sophomore season over suspicion that he’d been signing autographs. He would later be suspended for a half game in 2013 when the NCAA determined he had violated NIL rules.
Manziel challenged to the NCAA to do something about it.
“If the NCAA wants to take my f***ing 9-4 season away and my Chick-fil-A Bowl against Duke, f***ing blow me,” Manziel said.
