CFL denies Johnny Manziel contract for 2017 season
It looks like we're going to have to wait until at least one more year to see Johnny Manziel suit up in an actual football game [all crying emojis].
The Canadian Football League released a statement today that denies him a 2017 contract, but leaves an opening in 2018 if Johnny meets "certain conditions."
The full statement:
“After an extensive process of due diligence and an in-person meeting with Mr. Manziel, the Commissioner has decided that he will not register any contract for Mr. Manziel for this season. However, Mr. Manziel will be eligible to sign a contract for the 2018 season and, if Mr. Manziel meets certain conditions that have been spelled out by the Commissioner, the CFL will register that contract. The specifics of those conditions are confidential and will not be disclosed. The CFL has extended the stay on the expiry of the 10-day window for Mr. Manziel until Nov. 30, 2017 and therefore Mr. Manziel will remain on Hamilton’s negotiation list until that date.”
This is the second time in a month that the CFL, and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats specifically, have made headlines by not giving someone a contract — the first being the hiring (and then un-hiring) of Art Briles in August.
There's no indication from the statement that there's a correlation between the two, but the onslought of negative press the league received when the hiring of Briles was announced had to factor into their decision.
Here's hoping the CFL lost its one chance of actual TV ratings and an NFL team scoops up Johnny before the 2018 season.
UPDATE: Johnny has released a statement of his own.
“I recently had a really positive meeting with Commissioner Ambrosie and welcomed the chance for us to get to know each other and have an in-depth talk about a possible future with the CFL. I love this game and want to be back on the field in a situation where I can help a franchise in the long term. Over the past months, my agent helped me vet all of my options for playing, figuring out where I could be most effective and get back to having the most fun with the game I love. I’m ready to play today, but we all agreed with the Commissioner that it made no sense for me to join a team with only a month left in the season — it wouldn’t have been fair to my teammates, coaches or the fan base. I want to come into a team and earn my job day one, like everyone else. I look forward to preparing myself as best I can and look forward to what the future holds.”
In the meantime, we might as well enjoy some highlights from #2...