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S2E10 - Johnny Manziel - Now It's Legal with Jim Cavale
140 Plays2 months ago
Johnny Manziel is a former NFL quarterback for the Cleveland Browns. Out of high school, he was nationally recruited as a redshirt freshman for Texas A&M. He broke numerous NCAA Division I FBS and SEC records, including being the first freshman and fifth player in NCAA history to pass for 3,000 yards and rush for 1,000 yards in one season, and was the first freshman to win the Heisman Trophy, the Manning Award and the Davey O'Brien Award. Johnny was selected by the Browns in the 2014 NFL draft as the 22nd overall pick, playing for two seasons. Johnny joins Now It’s Legal to discuss his nationally recognized and record-breaking college football career and his perspective of playing in the NCCA.
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About Now It's Legal
In July 2021, NIL forever changed the trajectory of college athletics. It’s been a long time coming as the NCAA has long needed changes like NIL, the transfer portal, revenue sharing and other benefits for college athletes.
We introduce to you the Now It’s Legal podcast. Join us as we discuss the industry that holds the hearts of millions of fans who want to understand where its trajectory is heading. We are talking to those who are invested in and affected by NIL including: Former and current college athletes, presidents and head coaches, broadcasters and media personalities, investors and more. This is just the beginning of NIL and what it means for the future of college athletics.
Host Jim Cavale is a former college athlete and entrepreneur who has become an advocate for young athletes across the country. In 2017, he created the INFLCR app that allowed athletes to build their brand on social media, and in 2021, evolved into the NIL management technology for more than 100,000 athletes across 200 college athletic programs. INFLCR has since been acquired by sports tech titan, Teamworks.
In 2023, Jim founded Athletes.org which which is the players association for college athletes to negotiate the best terms for their college athletics experience. AO provides its member athletes with a free membership, empowering them with a voice, on demand support, and group licensing income in the same ways that professional league associations do for their member athletes.
Tune in to a new episode on Wednesdays this fall and join in on the conversation on Instagram with @nowitslegalpod and @jimcavale.
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Transcript
Introduction to 'Now It's Legal'
00:00:10
Speaker
What is up, everyone? Welcome to another episode of Now It's Legal, the podcast where we talk about everything past, present, and future in college athletics. I'm your host, Jim Cavall, and I'm excited about this episode because it's a different format than you might be used to.
Rapid-Fire Q&A with Johnny Football
00:00:27
Speaker
We did a rapid fire Q and&A with Johnny Football.
00:00:31
Speaker
And we talked about everything from his career at Texas A and&M and how it might have been different if NIL was in play back then, to the progress that's been made for athletes to not only profit off of their name image of likeness, but now with revenue sharing coming from the house settlement. So as I said, it's rapid fire. Me and him are going to go back and forth. And I think you're really going to enjoy it. So let's go to it. My interview with Johnny Football. Well, Johnny, man, I really appreciate you making time to join us
Legality and Impact of NIL on Athletes
00:01:00
Speaker
on this podcast. now Just for your context, the name of this podcast is Now It's Legal, which is what NIL really stands for. We all know that n NIL has been going on for a long, long time, right? But now it's legal and it's out there in the open. So we we feel good about some of the ways that we're using NIL to pay players. And I think you would agree it's long overdue.
00:01:21
Speaker
And so where I want to start is, with your career at Texas A and&M, it's not a secret how much new value you brought to Texas A and&M from the things you accomplished there on the field. We saw the the untold and all the ways it impacted ah A and&M and College Station economically. um But for you, there were limited opportunities.
00:01:43
Speaker
If NIL, as it is today, was available back then, how would that have maybe made things different for you and and your career at Texas A&M?
Johnny's NIL Reflections and Career Impact
00:01:52
Speaker
Yeah, I think just for me looking at um you know wanting to go to the NFL Draft that year, I think with NIL being around and the you know amount of money that people are making nowadays in college, I think it would have given me opportunity to probably stay at Texas A and&M for a couple more years and be able to make um You know, more than I would have as ah as a rookie in the NFL, obviously with league minimum around that was probably around 450 grand. You know, you think at my time and then I have what it would have been, you know, you would have probably been making more closer to what my signing bonus was like i'm getting drafted in the first round. So I think it would have just given me more opportunities to be able to, you know, link to my career at A and&M that was really only two years.
Athlete Influence in College Sports
00:02:31
Speaker
try to put yourself in the current athlete's position ah where they actually have a stronger voice than they've ever had before in college sports, but many of them might still not understand the power of that voice. Talk to the athletes about how powerful their voice is and the reality that they can push change for the better for for themselves and all athletes. Yeah, I think right now you see you know a lot of players around college football as this specifically you know really um having the power to you know, make some changes having the voices in the platforms that they didn't necessarily have years ago to be able to do things now. um And I think, like you said, looking back on it in the past, I think it would have been a, you know, a situation where higher ups would have been able to kind of maybe suppress their opinions and thoughts on things. And I think you look at it around the league now and around college football now and say that, ah you know, college football football players have a lot more, a lot more say a lot more power and and obviously stand it up for what they think is right.
Professionalizing College Football
00:03:29
Speaker
There's been a lot of people that say college football is the second most popular sport in the country. But the reality is it gets outperformed by the NBA or MLB because it's not ran like a true pro league.
00:03:44
Speaker
Obviously, there's things about college football that are different than the NFL, the traditions at the schools, um you know the rivalries, academics being a part of the student athlete experience. um But there there are a lot of proposals out there now of of professionalizing it, having a centralized scheduling system, having the best match-ups every weekend, more single-digit spreads, fantasy football, that kind of stuff. like Where do you think college football ends up? Where do you think it should go?
Ensuring Fairness in College Sports
00:04:14
Speaker
You know, I think obviously they're going to have to find a way to exactly make it, um, you know, a little bit more fair. You know, I think there's times when some of these bigger schools are obviously getting a little bit better run, depending on where their NIL pool is at and where their money is at really. So, um, you know, obviously you would love to see, like you were saying, some single digit spread, some, some better competition playing each other that you don't necessarily always see. The thing I like most about college football though, is still the ability for the underdog, for the little guy to be able to go up against the big school and be able to play.
00:04:42
Speaker
and have there any given day. um You know, you love it when ah you have a Northern Illinois, somebody comes into a Notre Dame this year and is able to knock them off. You're able to have that small underdog story that's able to still ah be able to shine. So I'm not sure exactly where it's going to be headed, but I know there are some changes and tweaks that probably need to be made with the current state of college football to to to make it a little bit better.
Expanding College Football Playoffs
00:05:05
Speaker
Well, you gotta like the 12 team playoff, right? I mean, we're here in November right now and there's 30 or so teams that still feel like they have a chance to make the playoff and that's never been a reality. Yeah, i think it's I think it's awesome. I think it's obviously great to be able to expand it a little bit and be able to get more teams in and and have more of a playoff scenario. you know Obviously in college football, you know the injury stuff, we'll see how it you know comes to playing this many games. you know We haven't seen college athletes go through a season where they're playing this many games up through the playoffs and to a national title run. So you know I think it's great for the but competition and competitiveness and and obviously ah being able to truly crown you know a champion of college football.
Revenue Sharing and Contracts
00:05:45
Speaker
So with the most recent litigation that the NCAA has lost or settled, ah revenue sharing will begin next year and schools will be able to share up to $20 million dollars a year with their athletes. And that $20 million dollars number will be official by January, but it's going to be somewhere in the 20 to $23 million dollars range.
00:06:07
Speaker
And the national letter of intent is gone. Schools will now have contracts directly with their athletes. And and so whether it's what's in those contracts and how it might limit athletes, ah whether it's ah things like the college football playoff, three more games being played now in the college football playoff, the the football player's voice still hasn't been
Athletes' Voice in Sports Dynamics
00:06:29
Speaker
included. The NFL, they ended a 17th game and it took years to get the players to agree to play in that 17th game.
00:06:36
Speaker
And then they came to an agreement. How important do you feel it is for the college athletes to start having, especially football players in the situation I just mentioned, having a voice to start to speak into how all this works? Yeah, I think it'll probably take some time for it to be able to get to that point, right? You know you still have your ADs and your head honchos around you know college athletics that are still very much you know running the show and and have been for a very long time. So I think it'll just take some time to be able to get um guys being comfortable getting together, talking, you know communicating and be able to voice their opinions um and the and in the best you know possible manner that they can. Absolutely. When you look at your alma mater, obviously great season they're having right now.
Johnny's Relationship with Texas A&M
00:07:19
Speaker
um How often do you get a chance to go back and and be a part of what's going on at Texas A&M? Yeah, for me, I think obviously it's fun to be able to sit back and watch and and see them have some success this year that they've been
00:07:30
Speaker
you know, long and for in the past, and obviously a big game coming up against Texas at to the end of the year that'll really put a stamp on what this season looks like for them. But for me, I get a chance to go back probably three or four times a year to A&M and College Station and still, you know, very much feel a part of the program and um a part of that school and and feel very lucky for that.
Johnny's Podcast and Business Ventures
00:07:49
Speaker
And you've been doing a lot of new ventures business-wise. Talk about what you're up to right now. I know you just launched a podcast. We'd love to hear more about that, but you have a lot of different things going on.
00:08:00
Speaker
Yeah, having a lot of fun with the podcast, honestly, and being able to sit down with some former you know college legends and be able to talk about some of the glory days and you know good times they've had throughout their playing careers and stuff. So um really been putting a lot of time and energy into that and you know feel like I have a good team around me to be able to and produce some good content, be able to have some fun with it as well.
Johnny on Mental Health and Business
00:08:20
Speaker
And, and, you know, I met with you about two or three months ago, you were here in Alabama speaking, um, about mental health. Um, so you're doing a lot of speaking and, and I know that's something you become pretty passionate about. Yeah. I think for me to stay an active in the business sense and whatever it is. So, you know, that's definitely one avenue that I've entered into this year that I thought was a cool experience. Uh, well, listen, I really appreciate you making time for us. Uh, wanted to get a chance for,
00:08:46
Speaker
the folks in college athletics to hear from Johnny football and and hear how you see everything
Empowering Players through athletes.org
00:08:51
Speaker
going on. So appreciate you making time for us and obviously looking forward to continuing the conversation offline. Appreciate you always my friend.
00:09:02
Speaker
Great stuff from Johnny football. Really appreciate him making the time to talk about these things. And like he said, things would have been so different for him if NIL was around back when he was dominating college football, winning the Heisman Trophy. And I really appreciate guys like Johnny, Heisman Trophy winners and legends.
00:09:21
Speaker
who are former players in college that are supporting the efforts of athletes.org to empower the players with a voice. And that continues to be something that is refreshing for our team at athletes dot.org. And I think you'll see with some of the things coming in the near future,
00:09:37
Speaker
that these former college football players, college basketball players, they really care about paying it forward. And AO is a way for them to do that. So that rapid fire type interview is one we'll continue to do, especially with with former athletes.
Subscribing to 'Now It's Legal' Podcast
00:09:52
Speaker
So we can talk about these topics like we talked about with Johnny Football. So stay tuned for more of those. Make sure you're subscribed to Now It's Legal on Apple Podcast, YouTube, and Spotify Podcast. Just search Now It's Legal and hit the Subscribe button.
00:10:06
Speaker
And if you want to follow new episodes coming, you can get teasers through Instagram. We'll always release short sound bites so you can get an idea of who the next episode is going to be with. And you do that by following us at Now It's Legal Pod on Instagram. For everyone here, I'm Jim Cavell. I really appreciate you joining us for another episode of Now It's Legal.