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Fans calling plays and setting rosters? Johnny Manziel suiting up for debut of new spring football league
By Keith Farner
Published:
One of the most exciting players in college football in the last decade is getting set for another chance this spring. Former Texas A&M star Johnny Manziel is gearing up for a startup league called Fan Controlled Football.
The league, scheduled to begin play in February, will feature 7-on-7 games where fans set rosters, call plays and interact in a blend of traditional and esports environments, ESPN reported.
“The more I heard about what this was going to be, the more I felt it was going to be something that was just very fun,” Manziel told ESPN. “It’s going to be very fan-oriented and something I could get behind without being extremely, extremely, extremely serious, the way that my football career has been in the past.”
Manziel has moved around several professional leagues since his days in Aggieland.
The 2012 Heisman Trophy winner was drafted by the Cleveland Browns in the first round (22nd pick overall) of the 2014 NFL Draft. Following his short 2-year NFL career, Manziel played for the Canadian Football League with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats (2018) and the Montreal Alouettes (2018).
Manziel, 28, connected with FCF co-founder and CEO Sohrob Farudi through comedian Bob Menery, a mutual friend. Manziel last played football in April 2019 for the Alliance of American Football and also has played in The Spring League.
The games will be streamed on Twitch, and according to Sportico, viewers will be able to collectively call plays through a Twitch extension built to remind users of Madden NFL’s play-calling screen. Fans will also be able to interact with team members through Twitch chat and watch the action alongside celebrities using Twitch’s co-streaming functionality.
A former newspaper veteran, Keith Farner is a news manager for Saturday Down South.
