Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel finally explained why he was abruptly absent from a scheduled appearance on ESPN’s College Gameday last month.
The night before he was supposed to be Gameday’s celebrity picker ahead of his alma mater Texas A&M’s College Football Playoff game against Miami on December 20, Manziel, 33, attended the boxing match between his friend Jake Paul and Anthony Joshua.
“I decided that I wanted to go see this fight,” Manziel said on his podcast “Glory Daze” on Thursday, January 8. “I flew into Miami. I went to the fight with my manager and a couple friends. For me, it was an unbelievable experience.”
After the fight, Manziel headed to E11EVEN nightclub, which he called “one of my favorite places to frequent in Miami,” where things started to go south.
“I started feeling really bad,” he said. “I walked to the restroom to try and throw up. I wasn’t drinking like I normally do in the past.”
Manziel continued, “At about 2:15 [a.m.], I’m starting to feel really sick. I call my driver, I tell him to come pick me up. I get in the car and I’m hanging my head out the window the whole time. I just feel really nauseous. I go back to the hotel and the second inside, I take off running to my room and immediately go to the toilet. I’m like, ‘Something’s wrong.’”
The former quarterback arrived back at his hotel around 3 a.m., with a flight from Miami to Texas scheduled for “6:30 or 7” that morning.
“I put a bucket on my bed,” Manziel said. “I’m sitting there, I’m throwing up. I fall asleep for two, two-and-a-half hours. I keep waking up every 30 minutes.”
As for the cause of his sudden illness, Manziel pointed to earlier in the week when he was in Dallas “spending time with my nieces and my sister for her birthday.”
“Of course not getting a chance to see them very much, I’m hugging on them, sharing food and spoons and doing all this,” Manziel explained. “I remember my brother-in-law was like, ‘You’re f***ed.’”
Ultimately, Manziel said he was “really down and out” for two days and blasted any theory that he missed Gameday because he partied too hard the night before.
“The speculation and the way that people have spoken about that. Are you guys out of your f***ing mind?” he questioned. “To think that I would just f***ing go out and miss this game?”
Manziel apologized to ESPN for missing the broadcast, during which he was replaced by NBA star Alex Caruso.
“I truly believe that it was out of my control,” Manziel said. “I’ll have to live with a lot of regret.”
Manziel claimed to have big plans for his appearance on the show, saying he was scheduled to show up with rapper Drake while carrying his Heisman Trophy, which he won in 2012.
“I had so much planned for College Gameday. Such an exciting time to be an Aggie. Such an incredible season for us. Obviously it didn’t end the way we wanted it to, but such an amazing experience.”
Texas A&M lost to Miami, 10-3, ending their season.
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