Johnny Manziel Reveals He Fabricated His Family Wealth to Hide Breaking NCAA Rules

During his brief, yet memorable NFL career, Johnny Manziel was as notorious for his antics off the field as was a quarterback. Now 30, and playing with the FCF Zappers, the behind-the-scenes story of Manziel's meteoric rise to fame and fall from grace is being detailed in the latest in Netflix's UNTOLD anthology series, Johnny Football, which premiered on August 8.

However, one of the biggest revelations to come out of the documentary is that Manziel fabricated a story about his family being independently wealthy due to an oil empire that had allegedly been built by his great-great-grandfather. As it turns out, he had been making money selling autographs, which was a strict violation of NCAA name, image, and likeness (NIL) rules that the organization later reversed in 2021.

Manziel had been briefly placed under investigation for selling autographs in 2013, and as a result was suspended from the first half of Texas A&M's season opener against the Rice Owls. Ultimately, no evidence was found that he had violated the rules.

As BroBible notes about the documentary, Manziel's friend and manager Nate Fitch concocted the Texas oil money story as a way to explain why someone his age was flux with cash, driving fancy cars, and traveling all over the country.

"I started with, 'How does he get caught?' He gets caught because somebody takes a picture during a paid autograph session," Fitch revealed. "You can sign autographs all you want—the part you have to conceal is money being paid."

To hide the transfer of money, Manziel said he would give his grandfather cash in exchange for a check that he would then deposit into his bank account. "You know, Nate was very okay with being the fall guy,” he explained. "And with that, me and Nate split everything 80-20."

"The next thing is how are you gonna explain why you are wearing Rolexes, and driving new cars, and flying in private jets?" Fitch continued. "As a freshman, you aren’t allowed to talk to the media. but they were allowed to talk to me. And so, the biggest spin that still exists today, I invented the narrative that his family was vastly wealthy."

Previous reporting from Deadspin had called the Manziels' alleged fortune into question. His extended family does trace its roots back to the Texas oil industry, although it appeared his immediate family were not the beneficiaries of generational wealth like much of the reporting about him at the time claimed.

Of course, since the NCAA abolished that rule, college athletes are now able to invest in themselves in a way that previous generations weren't able to. LSU gymnast Olivia Dunne, the highest paid female college athlete, even recently started an organization to help educate her peers on partnerships, personal branding, and to connect them with endorsement deals.

You can watch the trailer for UNTOLD: Johnny Football, below, which is now streaming on Netflix.