Nightcap Hour 1: Unc, Ocho & Johnny Manziel react to LSU-Clemson, Arch Manning STRUGGLING, Bama BLOWN OUT

Summary

Club Shay Shay — Nightcap Hour 1: Unc, Ocho & Johnny Manziel React to LSU-Clemson, Arch Manning STRUGGLING, Bama BLOWN OUT

Date: August 31, 2025
Host: Shannon Sharpe
Co-Host: Chad "Ochocinco" Johnson
Special Guest: Johnny Manziel

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Episode Overview

This episode marks the kickoff of the college football season, with Shannon Sharpe (“Unc”), Chad Ochocinco, and newcomer Johnny Manziel breaking down the biggest games and storylines from the opening weekend. The panel delivers lively, insightful, and passionate analysis on LSU’s gritty win at Clemson, Alabama's stunning defeat at the hands of Florida State, and Texas QB Arch Manning’s rocky debut. The conversation spans player development, the NIL era, coaching shakeups, and personal accountability in sports and life.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. LSU vs. Clemson — A Battle of Death Valleys

• LSU (#9) defeated Clemson (#4), 17-10, in Clemson’s famed 'Death Valley.'
• Garrett Nussmeier’s performance as LSU quarterback drew praise for poise and big-time throws under pressure.

Panel Analysis:

• Manziel: “They stayed patient and finally got things going a lot better in the second half…they just found a way to get it done. Nothing too overwhelming…just a solid, one touchdown win.” (06:49)
• Ocho: “LSU played extremely well. It was very stagnant, a very defensive game.…LSU is wide receiver university. I don’t see that 'dog.' I don’t see that one player out there that can make a difference for LSU. And I didn’t see that for Clemson either.” (07:26)
• Sharpe: “Normally, these are the type of games LSU loses early…but this was impressive going on the road and getting a win in a hostile environment.” (05:37)

Key Takeaways:

• LSU’s mental toughness and adjusting on the road signal growth under Brian Kelly.
• Both LSU and Clemson, traditionally known for offensive stars, failed to showcase standout receivers—raising questions about emerging playmakers this season.

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2. Florida State Stuns Alabama – The Fall of a Dynasty?

• Unranked Florida State upset Alabama.
• FSU’s K. Castellanos shined with an efficient, dual-threat performance (9/14 passing, 152 yards), while Alabama’s QB, Ty Simpson, struggled against relentless pressure.

Panel Analysis:

• Johnny Manziel: “The fear aspect of what Alabama is, is completely gone. Nobody’s scared of them boys. Not Vandy, not Kentucky, not nobody.” (18:31)
• Sharpe: “When you don’t…that’s half the battle. That’s one of your biggest strengths—another man’s fear. Well, they don’t have that anymore.” (19:28)
• Ocho: “When Saban was there, this was pre-NIL…the playing field has evened….Most of the part, coaching comes into play and is that much more important now.” (14:20)

Key Stats (Sharpe):

• Bama was outrushed 49 times for 230 yards. “Coach Saban, Johnny, you had to throw the thing that gave Coach Saban problem…was always the dual-threat quarterback.” (22:47)
• Coach Kalen DeBoer, Saban’s successor, suffers his fourth loss to an unranked team in just 14 games, compared to Saban’s four such losses in 230 games (26:35).

Key Takeaways:

• Under DeBoer, Bama lacks its old swagger, talent level, and intimidation factor.
• The NIL “leveled the playing field” and dispersed talent; now, “money talks” and coaching matters even more.
• Panel skeptical Alabama can quickly return to dominance; the Saban era’s recruiting advantages may not translate.

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3. Arch Manning's Underwhelming Debut

• Texas QB Arch Manning: 17/30, 170 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT, vs. Ohio State.
• He was inconsistent, and Texas’ offense sputtered, raising doubts about the “generational talent” narrative.

Panel Analysis:

• Manziel: “This isn’t Louisiana Monroe…this is the defending, reigning, really good Ohio State football team...But when you go step up at Ohio State and face the Alabamas…No bro, that’s not good enough.” (32:56, 34:14)
• Sharpe: “We gotta stop with this generational stuff. Everybody is not generational just because they have one or two good games…Stop saying that. He’s not.” (34:14)
• Ocho: “This is part of the media’s fault…crowning him a generational talent…We’re expecting to see just that. It was a bad day for Arch.” (35:40)

Highlights & Critique:

• Receivers share blame for lack of separation & adjustments (“If Arch is not playing well, that means the receivers have to be on point.” - Ocho, 39:25)
• Tough opening opponent and high-pressure environment acknowledged, but panel resists making excuses.

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4. NIL Era & Shifting College Football Power

• NIL’s Impact:

  • “Even the scoreboard all the way across. All the talent and the players that used to go to Alabama…everybody going all over because teams have money.” (Ocho, 14:20)
  • “The SEC…will only find a way to work around it and do what they need to do. There’s too much money there.” (Manziel, 27:43)
  • “It’s evened the playing field...I think it’s good for the players.” (Ocho, 29:33)

• “It does look like…Alabama still get five-star recruits but they don’t look like the five-stars they normally get.” (Sharpe, 30:21)

Key Takeaway:
NIL has democratized recruitment and opportunity, dispersing blue-chip talent and making coaching, culture, and development even more critical.

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5. Texas A&M & Marcel Reed – Is This the Aggies’ Year?

• Aggies’ season opener: Marcel Reed passed for 4 TDs as A&M rolled over UTSA.
• Johnny Manziel: “We have a good defense, solid run game. I like what Elko’s doing, but it’s too early to say...We got a Notre Dame game coming up soon.” (46:22)

Sharpe’s Classic Advice:
“If [Reed] wants to be Texas A&M’s Johnny Football, he’s gonna have to be able to throw, consistently. It’s hard, I don’t believe now at any level, maybe high school, that you can just win with a running quarterback.” (48:18)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Alabama’s Downfall:
  “The fear aspect of what Alabama is, is completely gone. Nobody’s scared of them boys…They’ve been getting wiped the last couple years.”
  — Johnny Manziel (18:31)

• On Generational Talent Hype:
  “We gotta stop with this generational stuff. Everybody is not generational just because they have one or two good games. Do you understand what a generation is?”
  — Shannon Sharpe (34:14)

• On NIL and the New Recruiting Reality:
  “All the talent that used to go to Alabama…now players want to play, and money talks.”
  — Chad Ochocinco (14:20)

• Manziel’s Self-Reflection & Browns Exit:
  “I think I’m going to be pissed at [the Browns] and hate them forever. So it is what it is…I will always be looked at and viewed at [as a bust], but everything that’s happened is only because of one person—myself.”
  — Johnny Manziel (54:48, 56:07)

• On New Orleans and Hurricane Katrina Memory:
  “Don’t disrespect the city of New Orleans ever.”
  — Chad Ochocinco (63:44)

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Timestamps for Major Segments

• LSU vs. Clemson Breakdown: 03:48–12:23
• Florida State Upsets Alabama / Bama’s Collapse: 12:23–26:25
• NIL and New College Football Era Commentary: 27:43–31:02
• Arch Manning’s Struggles at Texas: 32:29–41:24
• Ohio State’s Title Chances & Jeremiah Smith Segment: 43:10–45:22
• Texas A&M/Marcel Reed – Aggies Season Outlook: 46:22–50:34
• Johnny Manziel on Browns Experience & Accountability: 53:33–61:16
• Hurricane Katrina, Tulane, and New Orleans Comments: 62:38–66:15

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Tone & Style

The episode is energetic, unfiltered, and deeply conversational—mixing real football analysis with inside stories, strong opinions, and personal anecdotes. Sharpe leads with humor and candor, Ocho provides the receiver’s perspective, and Manziel brings honesty about his journey, both on and off the field.

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Conclusion

This episode sets a high bar for Saturday night college football breakdowns. From tactical analysis and bold player evaluations to bigger cultural questions (like NIL and the end of dynasties), the crew delivers compelling listening for both football junkies and newcomers. Johnny Manziel’s addition as a regular promises continued insight, honesty, and a measure of humility uncommon among Heisman legends.

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Transcript

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The rivalries, the marching bands, the upsets. Saturdays just got way more fun. College football is back. Think you know the game? Put your college football knowledge to the test with DraftKings sportsbook and turn your picks into big payouts. From live betting during the game to rival week, odds boost and so much more, Draft King Sportsbook has everything you need to stay in the action from kickoff to Final whistle. Whether you're betting on your go to team or making moves mid game as momentum shifts, Saturdays are yours to own with DraftKings sportsbook. Here's something special for first timers. New customers bet $5 and get $300 in bonus bets instantly. Download the Draft King sportsbook app. Use Code Shannon. That's Code Shannon for new customers to get $300 in bonus bets instantly. When you bet just five bucks in partnership with DraftKings Sportsbook, the crown is yours. Hello, ladies and gentlemen, and thank you for joining us for another episode of Nightcap. Y' all know who I am. I'm your favorite uncle, Shannon Sharp, my partner and co host. He's Liberty City's own. He's Bingles Ring of Fame honoree, Madding's ratings adjuster, a former pro Bowler all pro, he's Chad Ochocinko Johnson. And our special guest that will be joining us for college football season, here he is. You know him. The house that Johnny built. Mr. Money man himself. Here he is, ladies and gentlemen, Heisman Heisman Trophy winning Johnny Manziel. Johnny, how you doing, bro?

[Johnny Manziel]

We got the boys together. It's good to be back. Yeah.

[Shannon Sharp]

That's what I'm talking about. That's what I'm talking about. Please make sure you hit that subscribe button. Please make sure you hit the like button. Do us all a favor. Go subscribe to the Nightcap podcast feed, wherever you get your podcast from. We like to thank each and every one of you for your support and your continued support. Because thanks to you, Nightcap has achieved heights we could only have dreamed of, especially and we're only just two years old. So thank you again for everybody that's watched, that have listened, and that spread Nightcap through word of mouth. We, Ocho and I, and the Nightcap family cannot thank you enough. Make sure you check out Chezballa Portier. Now, if you cannot find Chezballa Portier in a city or state near you ordered online, we'll ship it directly to your door. The best tasting premium VSOP cognac on the market. Don't take my word for it. Try it yourself. I promise you, you will not be disappointed. What you see on the screen is a special commemorative edition. Laportier and I decided to do something very, very special for my brother for his induction into the Pro Football hall of Fame. We became the first brother combination elected to the Pro Football hall of Fame. And I thought that was deserved a special moment, a special, special tribute. And there it is, right there. On your screen. So just head over to laportierconac.com to grab yours while they last because once they're gone, they're gone. Please go follow my media company page on all of its platforms. That's Shay Shay Media and my clothing company, 84. 84 spelled out. So that's also pinned in the chat. As we mentioned before, we have Johnny Manziel, who will be joining us during the college football season on Saturdays. Welcome to the team, Johnny. Make sure you go subscribe to his podcast and YouTube channel, Glory Days with Johnny Manziel. The name of Johnny's podcast is Glory Days with Johnny Manziel. All right, let's get into it right now. The game that just went off lsu, the number Tiger. Number nine. Number. Number nine. Excuse me. LSU Tigers go on the road into first time in a long time. You've had two Death Valleys. That's what Clemson called their home, Death Valley. That's what LSU calls their home, Death Valley. So one Death Valley went into the other Death valley. So number nine, LSU go on the road, take down the number four Clemson Tigers by the score of 17 to 10. Nussmeier. Garrett Nussmeier played extremely well. John. I thought he played really well. In the second half he calmed down. He showed a lot of poise, a battle back and they got the win. A very tough fault victory. Normally early on in the season, these are the type of games LSU normally loses and you see opening. They lost to Florida State, they got blown out and then they lost the year before that they got beat. Now, LSU showed me a little something going on the road in an extremely hostile environment. The number four team in the country and and getting a win that was very, very impressive. Johnny, let me ask you this. What did you like about what you saw from lsu?

[Johnny Manziel]

I mean, I think you look at a lot through the game, you see it was kind of stagnant there for a while where nothing was really happening. Just kind of just kicking it back and forth waiting for something to happen. But they stayed patient n finally got things going a lot better in the second half. They have the turnover in the first half that really killed a lot of momentum. But one of these kind of slugfest games that when you go on the road, you never really know how you're going to win these and get these done. But when you look at the end of the day, you want to have this win. I think they just found a way to get it done in the second half. Nothing too like overwhelming, overpowering or anything like that. But just a solid, you know, one touchdown win.

[Shannon Sharp]

Ojo, what'd you like about what you saw from lsu, considering these are the type of games we talked about that Brian Kelly has seemingly lost early in the season and finding a way to win a game like this, you know, when you go on the road and you beat the number four team in the country, it doesn't matter if it's 17, 10, if it's 17, 16, if it's 11, if it's, if it's 4 to 3, you won long, as long.

[Chad Ochocinco]

As you get the win. Listen, LSU played extremely well. I think the beginning of the game, it was very stagnant. It's a very defensive game. Obviously, most of the time when it comes to college football, even NFL, the defense is always ahead of the offense because all they have to do is read and react and it takes time for offenses to get rolling. And what I did see from LSU and I didn't see enough of, Let me tell you what I didn't see enough of, Vonk of lsu is being wide receiver university. LSU to me is now Y University. I don't see that dog. I don't see that one player out there that can make a difference for lsu. And I didn't see that for Clemson either. They're another university that, that produces some good wide receivers. I, I haven't seen anybody emerge, actually. Honestly, we talk about, you talk about not just this game, the entirety of the day throughout, you know, college football. Those that I thought are supposed to step up, those that have always been on my radar as really, really good receivers. Nobody really. What's the word? Looking for nobody? Yeah, nobody. Nobody at all. Especially in this game tonight. I was really looking forward to seeing somebody for LSU to make a difference in the game, somebody for Clemson to make a difference in the game. But that didn't happen. It was more of a defense, a defensive slug fest. And the points that were scored, they were earned. Every point was earned.

[Shannon Sharp]

Tonight I think LSU will look back on this game and if they see they go and have the type of season that I think guys they want to have, they'll definitely look back at this game. And anytime you can go on the road in a hostile environment, and this is not Clemson's number four team in the country, they have the number three rated overall prospect and he happens to be a quarterback, Clint Kubnick. Kubnick Klub, Nick. And to go in there and to get that win, I think that tells you, I think Brian Kelly learned something about his team tonight. Johnny I think he really has, I really think he has a team now that he believes that he can take it anywhere in any environment and get a victory.

[Johnny Manziel]

Look, this is the playoff team, Clemson from last year. Same quarterback coming back, a lot of the same pieces. So you got to feel like early in the season, you know, this game has been scheduled on their, you know, bulletin board for the whole offseason and they were, they knew what they were coming into to play. And like we said earlier, this is a game LSU normally doesn't come out and win. So for them to do that has to make them feel really good about themselves. I don't see anything in Clemson's game that they should feel too down on. You know, you obviously want to win this game, but going through the ACC and the schedule that they have, they'll be fine. I think they need to continue to have club Nick run the ball as he did a couple times there, to extend some drives and do some certain things. But listen, everything's going to go through that guy, number two for Clemson. And if he doesn't put a touchdown on the board, you know they're usually not going to come out with a win in that situation.

[Shannon Sharp]

Yeah, LSU had to play well. They showed up with t shirts with 1 and O on it. When you on the road, Johnny and Ocho, when you show up on, on the road with the, against the number four team in the country and you wearing T shirts and you already got one and oh boy, you better come out there, boy, you better come on out there and play. And they play. They played that second half. They really dominated. They really dominated this game. Nuts. Like I said, nuts. Like Johnny, you were 28 of 38, 231 touchdown, not overpowering. He didn't have a 300 yard day. He wasn't 70 plus percent completion percentage but he was solid. He made big time throws when he absolutely had to have them to get a drive, tie the ball game up and then he goes down and get the go ahead touchdown. He was very, very impressive and I think Brian Kelly has to be impressed with his team defensively. They started getting out the club, Nick and once they started to put that pressure on, they brought a blitz. The guy, a linebacker looped around on 4th and 4 and they turned them over on downs. But LSU, this was an impressive win. Now you go look at it. Texas is in the sec, Georgia is in the sec. There are no, look, there are no E. There's not going to be any cakewalks. I mean even Vanderbilt say hold on hold on. We're not. We're not your homecoming now, you know, Vanderbilt used to be every. Johnny. First game of the season was homecoming. Vanderbilt on the schedule. Vanderbilt was like 10 homecomings a season. Hey, everybody's thinking about, hey, I'm gonna pad my stats, you know. Hey, hey, the party tonight, I need to. I need to shine. But the. The SEC is going to be very, very tough. Clemson, I agree with you, Johnny. The acc, that. Look, they're not. Ain't a whole lot to write home. Now, the team that we're about to talk about in a little bit, Florida State, they showed us something that Costelliano. He showed. He showed us something today.

[Chad Ochocinco]

Hey, Florida State. Unc. Hey, Johnny. I don't know what Florida State team we saw today, but they look really good, not only offensively, which has really been stagnant for a very long time, but defensively, they came. They came to play Earl a. A little junior. Is that Earl little, son?

[Shannon Sharp]

I think so. It is so.

[Chad Ochocinco]

Hey, boy. He nice. Hey, he is nice. He nice. He was playing some good goddamn ball at that boy.

[Shannon Sharp]

So we're gonna go ahead and get to that one. You can go and talk about that, okay? Florida State pulls the upset. Unranked. Florida State takes down the number. Country Ty put pressure on Ty Simpson all. Pretty much all day. He was pressured on 16 or 51 drop backs, one of 10 for 30 yards with three sacks when pressured. Simpson was not on the same page as Ryan Williams, who left the game late with a concussion. Simpson was just 5 of 11 when targeting him, or 3 on passes thrown more than 5 yards down the field. Kaylin. I was. I was thinking to myself, johnny and Ocho, I was like, man, look here, I understand there's not a college coach that's gonna be Coach Saban, but you can't. You can't. He's lost to four unranked teams in 14 games. Coach Saban was there damn near two decades, and he might have lost four unranked teams in his whole tenure. And I was like, man, they might get rid of Kalen DeBoer, but I looked at that buyout. He has a $70 million buyout. They ain't got them deep pockets like y' all got Johnny down at Texas A and M, where y' all got a Jimbo up out of there for 77 million. They ain't got pockets like that. So. So, Ocho, let me ask you this. You watch. You watch Alabama. Coach Saban's not walking through that door anytime soon, okay? Coach Saban's not walking through that door ever. Yeah, when you look at Alabama, they don't even look the same. They don't have the same swagger. They don't even take the feel the same.

[Chad Ochocinco]

Well, uncle, you got to understand, of course it don't look the same. This is, this is what we're seeing now. When Saban was there, this was pre nil, huh? Yeah, this was pre nil. Nil came and even the scoreboard all the way across. So all the talent and the players that used to go to Alabama where everybody would go and have to wait in line, they got receiver after receiver after receiver, quarterback after quarterback after quarterback, running back after running back, at a running back, everybody going all over the place because teams have money and players don't want to sit and wait behind anybody else. They want to play. Right now, money talks. What is which is one of the reasons why Nick Saban left because the, even the, the playing field has, even where the level of talent is scattered across everywhere. Well now most of the part coaching comes into play and coaching is that much more important. Is that much more important now because Florida State today, I'm not going to say they embarrass alab, they embarrassed Alabama. But I guarantee you a lot of people, a lot of people, especially if you gamble, I guarantee you had Alabama to win. I guarantee you had Alabama to win.

[Shannon Sharp]

Johnny, what you think, what didn't you like about what you saw from Alabama? And what did you love about what you saw from?

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[Shannon Sharp]

Talk about stepping up.

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[Shannon Sharp]

The Seminoles.

[Johnny Manziel]

I mean I think Castellano's for Florida State jumped off the page in every aspect of everything. You know, you look at what they did. He only threw the ball nine times. That's super effective. To be able to go put 31 points up and you only throw the ball, you're only 9 of 14 for 152. That's efficient. The one thing that I will say that I think in the past you walking face an Alabama team, you probably got a little fear. This is Bama, the team that's been a dynasty, the team you got a little fear. That fear aspect of what Alabama is, is completely gone. And nobody's scared of them boys. Not Vandy, not Kentucky, not nobody. Nobody's walking in and seeing Alabama on the schedule and having any kind of shake, any kind of fear. Nothing. They've been getting wiped the last couple Years. You say that buyout's deep, but like, they're not going to sit here and let this stand for sure. They'll go find it in. In wood somewhere.

[Shannon Sharp]

They absolutely will. Because I was thinking the same thing when they said about Jimbo, because prior to Jimbo, the biggest college buyout was Gus Mulan when he got 21 million to leave Auburn. And basically you tripled, damn near quadruple that with this buyout for Jimbo. But you're absolutely right. When you're Alabama and you've had to expect and you've done what you've done six national championships, you've lost another two times in the championship game, you're damn near. They called it the Alabama Invitational because Alabama was in it every year and people had them with a chance to win it every year. You can't count Alabama out. You can't count Alabama out. But like you said, Johnny, nobody fears Alabama anymore. And when you don't, when half that's half the battle, it's fear. That's one. That's one of your biggest strength, is another man's fear. Well, they don't have that anymore. And I'm looking at Alabama, Ocho, they ain't got the same level of talent. You're absolutely right. When you look at. You look at the running backs, it was Mark Ingram and Trent Richardson and this one or that one, and you look at and Derek Henry and Jamir Gibbs and this one and that one, you go. You go look at the wide receivers you went to Julio and Ridley and Cooper and this one and that one.

[Chad Ochocinco]

And Judy at the back.

[Shannon Sharp]

And you look at the quarterbacks, you look at those big D linemen they used to have. You look into DBs, they don't have that no more. They just have guys now. Ain't nobody just. When have you watched the game, Johnny, and you played against them, when can you honestly say you watched an Alabama team and ain't nobody jump off the page at you? Ain't nobody's like, damn.

[Johnny Manziel]

Not since the Georgia game last year where Ryan Williams did his thing and absolutely went crazy. One player stand out, where you're like, okay, this guy is a level of talent of Alabama that we're accustomed to seeing. Everything else, you may see a splash or a dash here or there, but you're not seeing it consistently week in and week out like you're accustomed to.

[Chad Ochocinco]

And the funny thing too, unc, is I said something about, for me obviously, being a receiver and thinking about college football and thinking about all the players have been promoted and advertised as opposed to be, you know, them boys. And me saying like nobody popped out to me on film today. And people, and people in the chat saying, it's only week one. Yeah, week one. Yes, it's week one. That's the whole point.

[Shannon Sharp]

You allowed to swap out just because it's week one. That don't mean you can't flag. That doesn't mean you can't show.

[Chad Ochocinco]

What do we talk about? It's only week one.

[Shannon Sharp]

Yes.

[Chad Ochocinco]

That's when you actually pop out and, and you show off. When you're playing against the top talent, you're playing against the good teams. These are the games you're supposed to pop out because you're trying. When you get to the next level. Every week it's the same thing. Every week you play in NFL, it's them boys, you playing against them boys. So I'm expecting, I was expecting, I was expecting maybe, maybe coaches wanted to call conservative games. Maybe they want to feature the players that we've all been, been been noticing on commercials and seeing over and over and over. So maybe, maybe next week, maybe the week after, I don't, I don't know. At some point the game for today were, were okay. The Alabama, Alabama and Florida State game to me was probably the best and the most exciting with the Clemson, the Clemson game following after that. But there's one more game we haven't talked about yet that was the absolute snooze fest. I'll wait till we get there.

[Shannon Sharp]

But when I look think about Alabama. The one thing Alabama could do was stop the run. You know, Coach Saban, Johnny, you had to throw the thing that gave Coach Saban problem has always given Coach Saban problems the dual threat quarterback and the guy that can pass the football. You go back and look when they lost to Oklahoma, Trevor Knight, I think that was his name. You look at what he did to them in the Sugar Bowl. He stood back there and he threw the ball. Now the thing that gave him the most problem is a dual threat quarterback. A guy that could throw the ball and run. You look at John, you look at Johnny Manziel, you look at Deshaun Watson, you look at guys that Cam Newton, you look. Damn. It just so happens you're talking about two guys won the Heisman Trophy. One guy was one of the better quarterbacks in the NFL before the injuries and, and things off the field took place, you see. But they got ran on 49 times for 230. Coach, you don't run Obama, Babel don't let you run. They stuff you. They stuff your run and then they go hunt your quarterback. They can't really hunt the quarterback. They really can't consistently stop the run. And cost and Costellianos was doing whatever he wanted to do. Like you said, Johnny, extremely efficient in the passing game. Only threw the ball 14 times. But when you can and you know, Gus Mozan, you know what he wants to do. He wants to run the football. He wants to give you a lot of misdirection. He's going to run jet sweep. He's going to run your quarterback. He's going to run his quarterback. That's what he does.

[Chad Ochocinco]

Florida State almost lost, not almost lost that game, but almost letting them boys back in the game, too. After the, after the second half, that second half and third quarter, everything started being conservative. Everything started being conservative. The three and outs giving Alabama the ball back, allowing them to have a chance to get back into the game. Now, if it was the old Alabama or a team that was a little bit more competent and efficient with the ball, hell, Alabama could have came back and won that game as conservative as Florida State played in that second half. Yeah.

[Shannon Sharp]

What old Alabama wouldn't have been behind like that? Go ahead, Johnny.

[Johnny Manziel]

No, I think, I think you look at what Alabama wants to do in the past, they would always say, listen, we're going to go man on man. We're going to take our best versus your best and we're going to lock you down. Times, like we said in the past where they've, you know, had success against in Alabama has been when, you know, they're running man coverage, running down the field and the quarterback's able to escape, to contain and be able to get out. But this is a team that just doesn't even resemble that. Like, we're going to put our best corner against your best receiver and body and throw them out of bounds and bully them up or, you know, we're going to take our best edge rusher and just absolutely mop you all day long. You don't. You're not used to seeing an Alabama team get pushed around, especially in the trenches. You got to be concerned.

[Shannon Sharp]

Yeah. And plus they can't run the ball like they used to. You know, Alabama get them hogs up and I'm looking at the offensive line. They go 6, 7, 3, 4, 6, 7, 326, 6. I'm like, Bro, y' all big for no reason. Why the hell you that big if you can't block, if you ain't Moving. Oh, you gotta move furniture. You that big. I said, y' all that big and can't block the sun at your eyes. I said, well, damn. Ain't no. Ain't no sense of being. Ain't no sense of being that big if. If you ain't gonna move something. Yeah. I'm like, well, Damn. I mean, 29 rushes for 87 yards, Ocho. 27 rushes, 89 yards, 3 yards.

[Chad Ochocinco]

They look good on all three levels up front, second level and the secondary. I. I really want to know, Chad. I don't know if you guys know. If you remember Earl Little that played for the Cleveland Browns? Is that his son? Little junior? Hey, he was all over the place.

[Shannon Sharp]

He was. He was.

[Chad Ochocinco]

You talking about the DB down here in Miami that.

[Shannon Sharp]

Nick Saban coached 230 games at Alabama. He had four losses to unranked teams during his stretch. Kaylin DeBoer has coached 14 games, and he just lost his fourth game to an unranked team since 2007. In games in which Alabama was favored by at least 14 points, Coach Saban is 131 and 2. Kaylin DeBoer is 4 and 4. They get you up out of there. You don't want to be the man. You don't want to be the man to follow the man. You want to be the man that followed the man that followed the man. So I want to be the guy that came after the guy that followed Coach Saban. I don't want that pressure. You don't want to follow Coach Bryant. You don't want to follow Nick Saban. You don't want to follow one of those. The Barrett Switzer or those air procedures, one of those mythical coaches. You want to be the guy that followed the guy that followed him. Because now that's what I'm going up against. Because I've got some separation between me and Coach Saban. I've got separation between me and one of these historic great coaches. The question that I have for you, Johnny, is that do you believe the NIL would be the death of the sec?

[Johnny Manziel]

No, I don't think so. I think the south will only. The SEC in that conference will only find a way to work around it and do what they need to do. There's too much money there. There's too much in these collectives to be able to make it. To make it successful. I think we'll see some more. I think we'll see different programs, different teams. Yeah, same Georgia, Alabama, the same couple little pockets of teams that have been winning sec. So I think it'll give some disparity in that regard. But you know, for the most part I think the SEC is aligned for whatever moves forward in the college football nil landscape. Whether it's getting to bigger conferences where we only have three big conferences throughout the country or four or whatever it may be. I think the SEC can keep accumulating teams, more teams, and end up being, you know, the biggest conference, 16, 20 teams. You know, when it's all said and done, this stuff kind of plays itself out.

[Shannon Sharp]

Oh, what you thinking? Because you look at Underwood, we might think we might touch on him. You get Larry Ellison, one of the top three richest men in the world, he underwrites it. You give Dave Port north from barstool, you get a Tom Brady says, hey, I'll personally help you out and mentor you and coach you and you give a kid a 18 year old 12 and a half billion dollars, say, come on down here, this is what we got for you. It's, it's hard when you got these deep pocket donors. You get a, a team like an Oregon and you got Nike and you got those, that Bill Nite dollars and you get all those uniforms and you. So now it ain't no, no Dodge Chargers, it ain't no challengers. These guys got Ferraris, Johnny. These guys got Lambos, these drives, these guys driving Cullinans and McLarens at 18, 19 year olds.

[Chad Ochocinco]

Yeah, listen, hey, the landscape has changed. The land, the landscape has changed. Like I said, I said it's even the playing field. And I think it's good. I think it's good for the players, I think it's good for the player because are you able to obviously get money for playing a sport you love? You're able to help your family out, you're able to help your family early as long as you can stay focused and understanding that you got this money as just a jump start for your bigger dream, for your bigger goal of making it to that next level where the real money is as long you can lock in, stay focused and do what you need to do. I think I like it because like Johnny said, it adds some disparity obviously to college football in general and even the playing field where everybody gets the talent instead of one or two or three or just three teams getting everybody.

[Shannon Sharp]

You're right because it sure, it sure seems that way now. It does look like, I mean, I know, look, Alabama still get five star recruits, but they don't look like the five stars they normally get. It's seemingly Ohio State are getting those guys now and they're like you said, I mean if they're 25, 35 star, Alabama's getting one or two where they normally have two running backs, two wide receivers, 3D linemen, two old linemen, a corner, the number one, the number two or three dual threat, they don't, those guys don't look like the same caliber player that they won't normally once have had had. And I think you guys are right.

[Chad Ochocinco]

Question two, Johnny, y' all can probably help me out when it comes to these stars and whoever is rating them.

[Shannon Sharp]

Yes.

[Chad Ochocinco]

From the people that are supposed to be these four and five stars. When the lights were bright tonight, when the lights were bright today, in general, the stars didn't come out. The stars didn't come out at all.

[Shannon Sharp]

What. And that's the thing, what you alluded to, you say when people, you, you tweeted what you tweeted and people say, well Shannon, they said Ocho. Well, it's just the first game. It doesn't matter if you, if you are who you say you are. First game, second game, third game, first quarter, second quarter, third quarter, it does not matter.

[Johnny Manziel]

You're like a pit bull on a leash when this first game comes up. You're, you're sitting there, you know, you got bang bang plays going across the middle and you can't touch each other and you're running by and you're barking. This is what you're doing all training camp. You're fake blowing stuff up. You have the sacks, the whistle that you'd be like, boy, if that was in a game, we'd tore your ass up like that's what you're doing all spring and all training camp. So now you're off the leash. This is your time to run.

[Shannon Sharp]

Yes.

[Johnny Manziel]

First time on a field, maybe in front of the lights. Yeah, it can hit you a little weird a couple spots, but when it comes down to it, a dog is a dog and it's time to be off the leash.

[Shannon Sharp]

Arch Manning struggled in his debut against Ohio State. With scouts and more than a dozen NFL teams watching, including nearby by Cleveland Browns, Manning was inconsistent. He completed 17 to 30 passes, 170 yards, one touchdown and interception. A very underwhelming day for a player some has pegged as the number one pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. Johnny, is this a sign of things to come or we just saying it's just one star? Hey, let's not make too much of it.

[Johnny Manziel]

I mean listen, I think is an overall as A player like they will. This is one of the things you start early in the season. I was talking to Jake Spavital, who is my offensive coordinator my second year. He plays at Baylor. I'm talking to him about the game the night before and he's just like, man, we can't run the ball. And there's certain things early on in the season where you need more reps and more game reps and more live speed reps. And this is something that's always been a question with Arch, which is, has he played enough? Has he got enough reps enough to be able to come into a game like this and be prepared and ready to go? And today it didn't look that way. I think as you saw their nice drive they had in the fourth quarter where they went down and scored. He has that capability, right? But like to do it from the first snap all the way throughout the game and be consistent with it. This isn't Louisiana Monroe. This isn't the teams he's popped in last year and played against. Like, this is the defending reigning really good Ohio State football team. Like, you're not that red dot that he said that they were swinging at everybody else. That must be broken or something because that did not look like the number one team in the country today at all. And it was an all time quote. I'm cool for it, but if you're gonna walk out like that with the gap, you better back it up.

[Shannon Sharp]

Yeah, yeah. And, and the thing is. What? Look, everybody keeps saying that he's a generate bro. We've got to start with this generational stuff. Everybody is not generational just because they have one or two good games. That does. Do you understand what a generation is? Do you understand what transcendent mean? Do you know what transformative mean? We. We just be you. We just be using stuff because it sounds good. Stop saying that. He's not. He might be that, but if you look at an Arch man and you say he's trans or he's a transformative, he's generational. You lying. He's not. Because guess what? They shut down the run and then it's like, okay, go win the game. And like you said, Johnny, the thing, what happened is that when Ewers were hurt last year and he's playing substandard teams and he looked really good. Well, they should go to Arch. They should go to Arch. They should go to Arch, bro. But when you go step up at Ohio State and you face the, the Texas and you face the Alabamas, no Bro, that's not good enough. That's not good enough. And he's gonna have to be much better because if you looked at him and his start and when he's played, had to step up in competition, if you can look at him and say, well, he's generational, I just. Well, I've got a. We've got different definitions of what generational is. Go ahead, O.J.

[Chad Ochocinco]

I mean, listen, this is part of the media's fault, honestly. This is part of the media's fault in crowning him a generation talent, crowning him the next big thing, obviously, because some of the games he played in last year, he looked decent when he came in, when Ewers went down and was hurt. But again, you come in week one, you playing against them boys. What did Johnny say? A dog is going to be a dog, regardless of circumstance, regardless whether it's week one, week two, or week three. So now, sometimes things look fun in the light. Sometimes things look funny in the light. Where the media has propelled and part and been propped up an individual that they are this generational talent, supposed to be the number one pick in the draft. And so we're expecting to see just that. It was. It was. It was. It was a bad day. It was a bad day for Arch. It was a bad day. I think he's gonna be all right. I think he's gonna be all right. But based on what we saw today. Nah, that. That ain't it. That ain't it. Because they couldn't score. They couldn't even score. They couldn't score. They couldn't run the ball. So if they. If you can't run the ball, score. And officer coordinator wants to be able to say, you know what, Arch? I need you to win it with your arm. I need you to win it with your arm. And they couldn't do that.

[Johnny Manziel]

Yeah, I.

[Shannon Sharp]

Go ahead, Johnny. What do you want to say?

[Johnny Manziel]

Like, for football guys, especially you guys playing, you know, tight end, receiver position, one of the first things you ever do is just mesh, right? Texas runs a lot of mesh throughout this game. And they're just those little. For a quarterback, just easy little throws, completions, rolling, just pitch and catch type of stuff. There were just so many times throughout the game where he's just a little off balance. Like, these are the ones where you step. You cut them off, you lead them on right in front, easy pitch and catch confidence boosters that Texas didn't really have throughout the day. And when you get stagnant and you get in there late in the third quarter, fourth quarter, you have no points on the board. You keep coming back to the sideline, taking your helmet off and you're like, damn, we can't get anything going for Arch in those situations. Those are the ones. You just have to go back to the very basics of what you do. Day one, install whatever it is, take a little three step drop and just throw the shallow real quick. Whether it's bang, bang, get tackled or whatever, you got to build on some momentum and be able to get yourself in a spot because look, the talent is there. I think he will get to a point where he's good enough. And, and this is the thing that we've said all season, the media puts a lot of hype on him. It's his turn. You go, you have the chance and every opportunity you want, everybody watching, all eyes are on you. Go do it. So one game is not make or break, but it's a no, It's a true test to where, where Texas is. And they are not the number one team in the country, that's for sure.

[Chad Ochocinco]

Yeah.

[Shannon Sharp]

Hey, you wanted to. One more thing.

[Chad Ochocinco]

It's really small. It's really small. Just watching the game with Archman today. Obviously the receivers, the receivers over there in Texas, it's supposed to be some boys over there, it's supposed to be some dogs over there. It's supposed to be one of the plays early in the game where Arsenal interception. And I'm looking, they, but they got the bun split, right? They got the bun split and the db. I mean the db, the receiver, he got the seven round, he got the second route. But the goddamn corner stand way up field, he's staying high on his inside shoulder. So the first thing you, the first thing you do, I'm like, well, what is the receiver doing? Man, just break it off and run it like flatten it off.

[Shannon Sharp]

You run it like a square out.

[Chad Ochocinco]

Big ass, deep ass out, man. The db, the deep. I mean, I don't, I don't know what, I don't know what the receiver's doing. There was an interception, but I'm like, no, Arch threw the ball in the right place. The receiver got to know, well, hell, if the DB wanna keep running to the goddamn pylon, I'm gonna just break it off at what, 15, 18 yards and just have a big chunk catch.

[Shannon Sharp]

Yeah.

[Chad Ochocinco]

And it's just stuff like that. If Arch is not playing well, that means the receivers have to be on point on the outside.

[Shannon Sharp]

You gotta help, they gotta be on.

[Chad Ochocinco]

Point, they gotta help Them out. You gotta bail them out in that situation.

[Shannon Sharp]

It didn't help that you're playing the number you play in the team that won the national championship, the opening game on the road in their building. We know how, we know what Ohio State represent. We know how that crowd is. And they got a. They got an NFL, former NFL defensive coordinator coordinating that defense. Normally NFL defensive coordinators, when they go to college, they have a lot of success because they can get really exotic and can confuse. Because, you know, if they can confuse NFL quarterbacks that's been quarterbacking for a number of years at that level, they should have some success against a college quarterback in his real first true year of starting. So I'm gonna give our a little leeway, but there are some throws that I expect him to make. If you're what they say you are, it doesn't matter who you're playing. There are certain throws you should be able to complete and we didn't see enough of that today. But like you said, this was the worst case scenario for Arch starting on the road. Your first, you know, game as the true leader on the road in the Horseshoe. That's. You're asking for a lot. But we got to stop throwing around generational. We just got to just. Let's just calm down. Let him play. We want him to be Peyton and Eli. Oh, he gonna be number one overall pick. Just let him play.

[Chad Ochocinco]

Oh, I was going to say when you. When. The way they throw him around, the way they advertise them, the way the media talks about him. So regardless of whether you playing in the horseshoe, regardless of where you play in Ohio State, regardless of whether it's week one, we are expecting to see exactly what the media says you are. But anyway, that's. He didn't play well. He didn't play well. I'm sure he'll rebound next week. I'm not sure who. I'm not sure who Texas played.

[Shannon Sharp]

Texas. Who they play next week?

[Johnny Manziel]

San Jose State.

[Chad Ochocinco]

Oh, there we go. There we go. Hey, listen, he might throw for 700.

[Shannon Sharp]

Well, you. Hey, ideally, Johnny, you want San Jose first, then go to Ohio State. You. Hey, you. I want to get my feet. Hey. Oh, I just don't want to. If you notice guys when they swimming, they put the water on their body. They want to. They just don't jump in cold. Hey, let me. Sometimes, you know, they jump down in there and get, get a little bird bath on. But like I said, I just want the people to just stop using that word. It seems like every time we get a decent player. Oh, he's. Oh, he's. He's. He's generational, bro. Y' all need to understand what generational means, and I don't think you do, because it sounds good. Oh, he's a generational talent, bro. I mean, his uncle was a generational talent. The one at Tennessee, Cam Newton was generational. We never. We didn't. Oh. Oh, man. Cam. Oh, he played Alabama or he played lsu. We didn't make no excuses for Cam. We didn't make no excuses for Peyton, but now we want to make excuses. Remember when, when Clayton couldn't beat Florida, we made no excuses, so we're not going to make no excuses now. He's gonna have to play better in order for Texas to get to where they want to go. He will have to play better. John, let me ask you this. Do you think with Patricia orchestrating that offense, Jeremiah Smith. Ocho didn't. They did a great job of covering him. You can see the frustration at the start of the bill. They gonna put three guys on him. Do you think they should be title favorites again to repeat? Johnny, Ohio State?

[Johnny Manziel]

Yeah, I think so. I think you're going to see that the way they're going to defend Jeremiah Smith all year, you're going to get a lot of that. He's going to be extremely frustrated. But at the same time, that should let wide receiver 2, wide receiver 3, and even a running back out of that team be foaming at the mouth for the opportunities they're going to have at the backside of some of these plays and some of these schemes. Because as they go on, I think Ohio State is extremely well coached and Patricia leading that defense. I think it's exactly what you said. Having a guy who's been in the NFL for so long, being able to come back and do this at the college level, should be able to put in some different looks, like he's sitting there watching film. And it's such a different look from everything that he's accustomed to in the past and. And just has to be sitting there with a plethora of ideas of what that he can bring to it. And as long as you have a good experience, group of people in that room and guys who are all together communicating it, there really is. You can. You can put all this stuff in in college. You just have to have the right guys to be able to do it. So it looks so far after what you've seen today, and granted, it's only week one and we're in a college football ERA now where you can lose twice, maybe even three times and still go on, you know, to get into the playoff and be a national champion. So yeah, it's, it's hard to not. You don't want to overreact too much after, after week one. But Ohio State has a really good team. We'll see if, if the QB play can continue to expand throughout the season because that's what it really comes down to.

[Chad Ochocinco]

Another thing too, when it comes to Jeremiah Smith, they got to be more, they got to be more creative. They understand the stat line he had last year when they played against Texas. It wasn't that good. So what do you do? You come up with a game plan. You come up with a game plan to move Jeremiah Smith around. You don't just have them on the outside to the left. You don't just have them on the outside to the right. You put them in motion. You condense the splits, forcing the DBs to get off. There's so many have them coming out the backfield. There's so many ways to give them the ball shot.

[Johnny Manziel]

Whatever you want to do.

[Chad Ochocinco]

Yeah, I know he, I know he has some drops today, but he's the best player on the field by far on either team. It doesn't matter. So there's so many things you can do with him to make sure you can get him in rhythm and get him going. There are no excuses. No excuses.

[Shannon Sharp]

All I'm saying is this, I don't give a damn. Jeremiah Smith got a trench coat, a disguise, a mustache and a hat. That guy, the disguise and the mustache and hat, he not beating us. So I don't give a damn what you do with him. You can put him in the backfield, you can punch it, you can stack him. I don't care where you put him. Somebody else beat me. He not beat me. Because you know why I know he can beat me? Me, I'm not sure these other guys can. So I don't care what you do with it. Boat show, you can have out there looking like expect the gadget with a trench coat and everything. He ain't beat me. So I'm just saying, I'm just saying the guy with the trench coat, coach, he ain't nobody. Don't worry about it. You cover that nobody and you help him over the top of that nobody. Johnny Marcel Reed threw A career high four touchdowns as the 19th ranked Aggies roll over in the season opener. 4224 over UT San Antonio. KC Conception had a touchdown reception, returned a pump for another Score as in Texas A M debut. Johnny, is this the year for your Aggies, y', all, Y' all gonna do.

[Johnny Manziel]

Something, man, I, I, I try to sit here and not jinx us, not try and put too much. It is a gauntlet of the SEC run, right? We still got to go see everybody. But look, I, I think last year, whenever Marcel comes in against LSU that second half of that game last year and does what he does, he unbelievable ability to be able to run the football as a quarterback and be able to move like that has great speed. The one thing that we've been waiting for with him is really to see him expand the passing game, move the ball downfield. I think at the end of last season, we were one very one dimensional. We, we know we're going to be able to run the ball and that's what we want to be able to do. But for him to be able to come out in the season opener, have four touchdowns, be 22 of 34. I spoke to him probably three or four weeks ago and I was watching a lot of stuff in Routes on Air and just seeing certain things and I was kind of like just looking at it. I didn't exactly love what I was seeing, to be honest. So like I was in the UK somewhere and I pick up the phone, I called him and I'm like, man, I gotta drop this little tip on you that, that me and Mike Evans started working on after our first offseason where you just like in, in Routes on Air and you're running down the field, just get your receivers to stick their hand up and stare at that middle finger. Like, just stare at the middle of their finger the whole time with your eyes and start to train your eyes that when you don't even need to see the ball release out of your hand or anything, but just start staring at fingertips and just start starting to give him a little bit of some things that I think will be able to help him because if he develops his passing game, the sky is the limit for us. We have a good defense, solid run game. I like what Elko's doing, but it's too early to say against the UTSA team that this is our year, but we'll see. Gotta. We got a Notre Dame game coming up pretty soon. That'll, it'll be a good test for us that we didn't play very good against last year.

[Shannon Sharp]

Y' all did have a, a give a guy 177 yards on 16 carries with two touchdowns. Johnny, so, so you can't be Pleased, right, that one of those was 75 yards. So you can't be too pleased with that. Yeah, sure, but, but I, I agree with you. Reed, like, we know he got legs, but in order to take your game. So if you're trying to take your game to the next level and they know you got. It's your arm is that Lamar went to another level once his arm started catching up with his legs. Josh Allen, when his arm started catching up with his legs, Patrick Mahomes had the arm. And now my homeboy put that thing up on his arm. He'll tuck it and take off on you. And they're like, hold on, wait a minute. You ain't never showed that. Don't worry about it. You see it now though. And so that's what Reed, if he wants to get to that next level, he wants to be in Texas A and M with Johnny football. Was he gonna have to be able to throw at Johnny consistently? It is hard. I don't believe now at any level, maybe high school, that you can just win with a running quarterback. He's gonna have. They're gonna force you to throw it. They're gonna force you to throw it.

[Johnny Manziel]

At the end of the day you can always stack the box, put a bunch of people up there, man up and say, you know that fade route doesn't always get beat off the line of scrimmage. And you just see him over the top and you let it go. Sometimes you're gonna have the back shoulder, you're gonna have to put it in different areas. You're talking about the corner earlier being high over the top and you gotta throw them flat. These are a lot of things you have to learn and you learn in the college game as a passer. The one thing about Marcel Reed is people were asking me about him this offseason. I go, what he needs to do in the off season is go work nothing but half line routes on air and just see different half line coverages, half side of the field coverages, see what it looks like and just get more use to game rep speed of zone and coverage looks. And I think, look, it's a, it's a great start. He needs to continue to be able to throw the ball because we're going to see teams, you know, this year on A and M schedule. We'll see it in two weeks versus Notre Dame where they're going to load it up, make sure we can't run it. And you're going to have to go make some plays with your arm or you're going to be stagnant because at.

[Shannon Sharp]

The end of the day, you got to go, you got to throw the football to win in today's game the way it is. You got to throw the football to win and. But you got to be happy with that. Johnny, we're going to get you out of here on this one. This clip from your Glory Days podcast has gone viral. Let's show the chat.

[Johnny Manziel]

Oh boy.

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[Julian Edelman]

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[Shannon Sharp]

Talk about stepping up.

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[Shannon Sharp]

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[Johnny Manziel]

In my draft class, the Browns had two picks. With the sixth pick, we took Justin Gilbert from Oklahoma State. And I get the most wave of for being a bust and this and that, but I wasn't even the biggest. And respect to Justin Gilbert. I love him as a human being, but we both flamed out. We both struggled and he went 14, 15, 16 picks before me. So, like, I'm not even the biggest bust in my class from the Browns. Damn, Johnny, I was feeling some type of way that day, huh?

[Shannon Sharp]

Clearly, clearly you like, hold on, y' all killing me. But what about the guy that went top? Top wanted to be in that pick.

[Johnny Manziel]

Like that's if we were talking about going to Cleveland. I wanted to go to Cleveland at 6. I wanted to go to Cleveland 4. Whatever the pick was, like, if you're going to send me to Ohio, at least send me with 20 million instead of 8. Like, what the.

[Shannon Sharp]

Damn.

[Johnny Manziel]

I love the Justin Gilbert look. I, I think, you know, from, from a Browns draft perspective from that year, you know, Joel Batonio is still playing and doing well for Cleveland.

[Shannon Sharp]

Right.

[Johnny Manziel]

Right now. But all around miss, you know, I, I think I will always be looked at and viewed at because of how much hype and, you know, media and everything that was around me and the city of Cleveland expecting me to be great and that ultimately not panning out. Listen, you know, I sit here today and I go back and forth with, man, am I gonna let Cleveland off the hook and just like let it go or am I gonna sit here with hate and animosity in my heart for the rest of my life? And I finally sit here today, I'm like it. I think I'm going to be pissed at him and hate them forever. So it is what it is. What it is, man. No, no love for the Browns. I'm rooting for Owen. Sixteen seasons. Every season.

[Shannon Sharp]

Damn. John, let me ask you this. As you sit here today and after all the things you've gone through, we sat down a little over a year ago and we had a conversation, had a great conversation. And I think a lot of people got an opportunity to see you in a different light, knowing what you know. Now you're back in that situation. But you know what? You know, now, what would you have done differently? Would you have done anything different leading up to the draft? Would you have done anything different in college? What are some of the things that Johnny would have done differently to make sure this outcome that we're talking about never happens?

[Johnny Manziel]

Look, there was a moment in time, and we spoke about it on the podcast. Was. Was, you know, after that Oklahoma Cotton bowl game, you know, things changed for me, and I went from Johnny Manziel to Johnny Football. And, like, looking back on it now, and people ask me, if you could go back in time and do it differently. There is that split moment in time, like in the locker room after that game, where my focus would have shifted to, let's get to national championship the next year. Let's get to San Diego and start training again and, like, get ready and geared up for the season, because we got Mike Evans returning. We got a bunch of guys on this team who can come back and make a real run. And that's one thing that just never sits right with me to this day. Just, like, the untapped potential of the whole thing. And the real opportunity if I want to see Texas A and M win a national championship, well, that was a real, real opportunity for us, and it just didn't come to fruition. And, you know, I sit here today, and a lot of people will hear me speak, and as I tell stories, stories, and, you know, I'm doing the podcasting stuff, you know, people will always be like, you know, I'm blaming stuff on other people or I'm not accountable or anything like that. But listen, at the end of the day, everything that I've got in my life, and that's happened to me throughout my football career, is only because of one person, myself, and the decisions that I made as a man in this life. So was Cleveland the best situation for me to go to? Did they help. Help me knowing all the things that they knew about me with all the research and everything, did they put me in the best situation? Absolutely not. It was not the right situation for me. But when it comes down to it, you take all of that aside, you throw it away, and you look in the mirror and you say, I've let an amazing opportunity slip. It's on me. I'm the one that has to sit with myself every single night as I watch college football or watch NFL football and be like, damn, I would be in my 12th year. I would be X, Y, and Z. I'm the one that has to lay my pillow down, lay My head on the pillow every night and be like that coulda, woulda, shoulda. But it wasn't. And at the end of the day, a lot of my life as I've been out of football, has been like, what am I going to be able to do to find a spark, to be able to be happy, to be able to give me something like football did give me? And you know what? Maybe it wasn't meant to be for me. I didn't put in the time and the effort and determination that you need to be great that both of you guys did for the sport. And that was just maybe my stupidity, my youth, or what it was meant to be. But nevertheless, you know, I take accountability for everything and what it is. You know, I really didn't harm anybody other than myself when it's all said and done. So, you know, we're still sitting here today, rocking, rolling, happy, and we're on the Nightcap show now, baby, Every Saturday. Let's go.

[Shannon Sharp]

That's what I'm talking about, Johnny. Did it come too easy? Did football come too easy to you? You look at what you did. You went down to Tuscaloosa and you became a household name. Everybody knew who you were after you went in there and did what you did to Coach Saban. Did football come too easy for you after that?

[Johnny Manziel]

Man, I. I don't know. I think I started choosing to. You start to get a little bit of ego on the football field, right? You start to see what you're doing in practice and how you're playing and, like, making certain throws and the scrambling where you, like, you're just doing certain things that are just, like, jumping off the page and you're noticing them, too. So it gives you a. It gives you a bravado and a confidence. And when people on a college football field, you know, I think this is why I wanted to go to the NFL so bad, because as I'm going and playing on Saturdays, I'm like. Like, these dudes can't with me. Like, they. They really can't. They want to. And even guys who are good from opposing teams, you'll come up to each other after the game and they'll be like, damn you, you're everything we thought you were going to be. You're cold. So, like, as you're getting respect from your peers on this level, too, it does heighten your sense. It does give you a sense of ego and bravado. And, you know, you add the social media wave and the. And.

[Chad Ochocinco]

And.

[Johnny Manziel]

And, you know, at that Point in time, Sports center every single night, and you're. You're taking over the world. You know, it does make you feel invincible. So I know there was a lot of hard work that went into everything that happened. And the reason that I played as well as I did on the field is because I did work my ass off from the time I was in high school to college. And it all played itself out. I think you start to see the down, you know, the downslide and everything else when the hard work takes itself out. So. So, you know, that's what I always tell kids nowadays who ask me and look at my story and look at everything. It's like, listen, I had all the talent in the world. You can go run a go route, put your hand up and have a guy draped over you. I'll drop it in the bucket. You can go meet me in the A gap and really think you have me covered. Attack one. I'll mix you out of your shoes. But when it comes down to it, gotta. You gotta work hard and you gotta consistently do it day in and day out, even when you don't want to. And if you don't want to do it, guess what? There's somebody right next door or somewhere else that wants to take your spot and wants to trade places with you. And look what happened to me. You know, the NFL is a game where you get replaced like this.

[Shannon Sharp]

Johnny, thanks for joining us tonight. Welcome to the team. Make sure you go subscribe to Johnny's podcast on YouTube. Glory days with Johnny Manziel. Johnny, thank you for joining us, man. We'll see you next week, bro. Have a good time.

[Johnny Manziel]

Enjoy. Much love.

[Shannon Sharp]

All right, bro. Yep, that's Johnny Manzel, ladies and gentlemen. He will be joining us. He'll be our special guest on Saturdays during the college football season and in the college football playoffs. So thank you, Johnny, for joining us. Enjoy the rest of your time. He's away. I mean, it's 5 o' clock in the morning where he's at. It's 6:30 now.

[Chad Ochocinco]

Where we at?

[Shannon Sharp]

So he's a Milan, that's who.

[Chad Ochocinco]

Look, that's what I got on too.

[Shannon Sharp]

Oh, okay. A.C. milan.

[Chad Ochocinco]

Tell me you know who this is.

[Shannon Sharp]

No, I don't. Ross Mill, man, I don't know who that is. Ronaldinho? Me?

[Chad Ochocinco]

You don't know who that is? You for real or you just playing.

[Johnny Manziel]

Man?

[Shannon Sharp]

I. I ain't. I ain't the officia.

[Chad Ochocinco]

Even if you're not a soccer aficionado, you got to know who Ronaldinho is. The Grady.

[Shannon Sharp]

I know who. I know who he is. I know he's a Brazilian. Play. I have seen him play.

[Chad Ochocinco]

Okay, okay, Okay. I don't wanna. I don't want to give you. Okay, just. But don't. Don't upset me like that. You almost.

[Shannon Sharp]

I saw him play. I saw Kaka play. I saw Hulk play. Okay. I'm just saying. Okay. Tulane football wore all green uniforms with black hat, with blank green helmets today to recognize the 20 year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. Green Wave head coach John Summerall said the program was set to honor the victims even further. But Tulane's request to Northwestern to wear white jerseys, which is what program wore the first game after Katrina, was declined. After the game, coach said, I'm not trying to take a shot, but we requested to wear white jerseys because that's what the team wore. It got denied. That's their prerogative. But when you disrespect the city of New Orleans, that's what's going to happen to you. You're going to get the run to a team that had a chip on their shoulder. We might have used that for a little motivation to represent the city. Don't disrespect the city of New Orleans ever. Ocho, what'd you think?

[Chad Ochocinco]

Respect New Orleans, man. What you talking about?

[Shannon Sharp]

Yeah, I've been watching that documentary, man. God almighty.

[Chad Ochocinco]

I didn't see the documentary. I'm. It's, it's, it's. It's tough for me to sit through that. It would be tough for me to sit through that and have to watch that. And realizing this is. This affected people's lives. People had to uproot. People lost their lives. And the fact that the response in knowing it was coming and the response in people in positions of power coming to help, not being what it should have been. No, you know, I, I can't, I can't. I can't. I can't stomach that. I can't.

[Shannon Sharp]

Yeah, I, I haven't gotten all the way through it. But it had people that was, you know, little girl. I think she was probably 14 at the time. And she's telling the story now about her. And guys was telling the story how his grand. His granddaughter, she went under, never saw again. His mother went under, never saw her again.

[Chad Ochocinco]

I can't do that.

[Shannon Sharp]

I was like, oh, my goodness. I mean, you know, you saw it. I mean, you know, you, you saw it from a distance. But to hear people share their stories and to see all these people, man, it almost seems surreal. It doesn't seem Real like something like this can't happen. Ain't no way something like this can happen.

[Chad Ochocinco]

Wait a minute.

[Shannon Sharp]

And then we have the response that we have.

[Chad Ochocinco]

I was just getting ready to say that. We talk about America, we talk about a catastrophe of that magnitude. Do you understand? Depending on. Depending on what it is, on how important something is. You mean we can resolve another country's issues in a week's time. And you mean to tell me you can't go down there to the boot and make sure. Man, don't get me started, man. Man, don't get me started.

[Shannon Sharp]

It was. It was the perfect storm, Ocho, because you think about. You got Lake Pontchartrain on the front, you got the Mississippi river on the back, and you got a city that's below sea level. That water gotta go somewhere. And you got a Category 5 with winds pushing 150, 160, 170 miles an hour. Pontchartrain to the front, Mississippi to the back, and you're below sea level. That water gotta go somewhere. Guess where it's going. Where they don't have levees now. It ain't going to the. It ain't going over there. Yeah, it's going over here.

[Chad Ochocinco]

It's funny. It's funny.

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[Shannon Sharp]

For years, everyone thought Verizon had the best network because they did. But now the best mobile network in the US is T Mobile. T Mobile's network has the most advanced 5G with more towers and their signal reaches further than ever. So you can text and insta talk and say you won't believe where I am. T Mobile has the best mobile Network.

[Johnny Manziel]

In the US based on analysis by.

[Shannon Sharp]

Ookla of speed test intelligence data 1H2025C.T.

[Julian Edelman]

Mobile.com Network in the heat of battle.

[Today Show Host]

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[Shannon Sharp]

Com.

[Today Show Host]

This is an iHeart podcast.