Subpar - Johnny Manziel Interview: The biggest bet he has ever made playing golf, his rapid rise to fame, and the true story behind his infamous Las Vegas trip

Episode Date: May 19, 2020

On this week's episode of GOLF's Subpar, Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel joins former PGA Tour pro Colt Knost and his close friend and on course rival Drew Stoltz for an exclusive, in-studio, interview. Johnny details his love for the game of golf, the most he's ever bet on the course, dealing with his rapid rise to fame, and the true story behind his Rodman-esque Las Vegas trip during the season.

Hello world and welcome to this week's episode of Golf Subpar. I'm Colt Nose, joined as always by the one, the only, the sleazy man. My man, good to be with you and also good to have actual real live golf to talk about with the match, the Taylor-Made Charity match down there at Seminole. First time we've seen live golf in a long time. Well, you witnessed some live golf last week. The Scottsdale Open. Yeah, let's get to that.

You want to talk about it? The first major of 2020, by the way, it's being dubbed. Yeah, I want to talk to you about it. I know what the jickeys are like. I saw you out there. I saw you. you looked comfortable. I think the carts, the carts had to suit you well. The range finders, no need for a caddy. Don't have to chop up the check at the end of the week. I mean,

these are all things. Could have probably snuck a little booze into the cart if you wanted. I don't know if you did or not, allegedly. That's an off-air conversation. Right, we'll talk about that later. Shirt untucked was rather comfortable. Got some pub for the shirt untuck. Definitely love that. But I had an absolute blast. And speaking of range finders, massive shout out to producer Mark. My range founder died in the middle of the second round. I almost went into a full panic because out there on the jickeys, there's not a ton of sprinkler heads with yardages. He made it back to me within a hole. Got me a range finder battery. Shout out to producer Mark. Probably birdie the next hole. See that stuff you don't think about on the big tour.

You don't have to where you got your caddy out there yardage books, all this stuff. You get on the jicks and range finders are just starting to be allowed within the last few years. I was out there in the trenches having to walk this stuff off. I got a pinch sheet that's not right. You just got to use more of your brain. Well, I mean on the big tour you got the big ht video boards. You just look over and see how far you got. They tell you. Yeah, that's a good point. These are things you don't think about when you're out there on the show. But all in all, your first jick, very, very respectable T3 finish. We got Mr. Zach Smith coming on here just in a minute who walked away with that trophy. But how did you feel on the whole week? Is this a one and done jickey for cold or are we

going to see more of you? I don't know. It just depends. I'm not big into like getting the whole experience, as you say. I'm not driving four hours. I'm not rooming with four other dudes and not the nicest hotel room. I'm just not about that life right now. You got to be about that life. I did enjoy playing like I first of all. I love doing what you and I are doing. The tournament golf, getting back to some tournament golf was a lot of fun. But I don't know. I might play one here or there, but that was a very cool first experience for me.

I'll be honest, through seven holes the last day. I kind of thought I was going to run away with the title until our next guest, Zach Smith came in and just started making birdies from everywhere. But if you had told me at the start of the week, I'd have shot 65, 66, 66. I wouldn't even have teed it up.

I'd have sat right there and been like, all right, you guys beat that. Let me know what happens. Yeah, fresh off the couch, fresh off having the microphone in your face. But it's nice to get the juices flowing again. a little competitive fire that you haven't had in a while? I'll be honest.

I'm a gambling man. And I checked the odds at the start of the week. And the 100 to 1 odds to win the Scottsdale Open was a slap in the face. I knew that motivated you. And I put that little chip on my shoulder. It's like Jordan. I'm going to go out and play some good golf this week and see what happens. And my first time around talking stick, I loved it.

It was fun. First off, if we can get the fairways to run 50 yards out on the PGA tour every week, I might consider trying to make a little comeback. Your driving distance stats had to be the best you've ever had in your career this It was awesome. It was a lot of fun. I mean, the ball's going really far even for me. It was crazy. I played with Kevin Strillman and a good friend of ours, Andrew Buckle, the first two days. So it was a blast. As you said, I didn't get the full jicky jack experience. Now the second day, or the last day, I'm sorry, the last day. Speak on it.

I'm not going to bury him or anything like that. He was a nice young player. First of all I play with Brad Hopfinger, who is really good players, plays on the Corn Ferry Tour. another gentleman who gave me more of the experience, I feel like. You know what I'm saying? Elaborate on that just a little bit for us. Just, just he was a, he's very intense. He had a buddy caddy in form, had the caddy vest with the name on the back. Of course.

Which I couldn't believe you didn't show up with one with mine on there. As you do. I wasn't getting paid enough, but I would have considered it. You know, in my mind, when I think it's kind of jicky jack, I just, I see a lot of poker chip ballmarkers. That's a fact. Well, a poker chip would have been great. this thing was, I mean, this big. It was massive.

It looked like the top of a Pringle's can. You don't want to lose your ballmark on the green, dude. Rule one of the jigs. Can you move that six left, please? On the first toll, he had in there close like four feet, and I was probably 15, 20 feet. And I'm like, he puts it down. And I'm like, oh, my God, that thing looks like this table sitting at the market.

And I'm like, if I ever do have to have it, it's going to be like six to the left. Yeah, you're right. Use it as a little ricochet. It was cool, man. I mean, very, it's fun to go out there and experience. I'm used to playing with guys, like on the PGA tour, who it's not about money out there. It's about winning trophies and trying to win FedEx Cup titles and majors and stuff like that.

And guys that have, you know, they've made it their whole life. These guys out here are trying to make it. And every shot means so much. Every dollar means so much. And it's really cool. I mean, to watch, I mean, they're intense and they should be. I mean, they're playing paycheck to paycheck out there. And I think that's something like I've never had to go on through, which I feel very lucky for.

But the same time I earned that as well. But to go see the other side and go see that there are guys that that do struggle to make a living at this game. It was really cool to see and it really opened up my eyes. Yeah, not even just struggle to like make a living or any of that. Like struggle to keep your dream alive of like, I want to play professional golf for my livelihood, for my life. And if you go if you go have a bad couple months stretch on the jikis, like you can be done. Your bankroll might be done. You know what I mean?

Like the entry fees and some of these things, $1,000, whatever. if you get a little money to help you out and go have a bad run, no income. Like you might be done. Like I got to go get a job. See, that's one thing I don't think people understand is these guys are paying upwards of a thousand bucks a week just to tee it up.

Where guys on the PJ tour pay zero. Zero in their bank account is seven figures long and they don't got to worry about. Granted, they all want to play good. There's different levels of pressure. But playing to like keep your dream alive of continuing to play golf, that's a total different kind of pressure than. It's your gambling on yourself.

It's a massive money game. Everybody's throwing a thousand, you know, a hundred and something guys throwing a thousand bucks into the pot and the winner's trying to take the biggest cut of it. It's really cool. And like we got to talk with Zach Smith later on. I mean, that's a life-changing win for him. Sure. I mean, it gives him so much cushion and so much stress relief just to know that he can go through the summer now.

He's got plenty of money for entry fees and all that. And good for him. He played unbelievable. And good for him because like he did it in the final round with Joel Damon, the odds on favorite to win going into the week, you know, top 70 player in the world right now. I think when you play on the mini tour, you see a lot of good golf and you see guys win. You're like, man, that guy's good, but is he good enough for the PJ tour, right?

Like, you're not playing week to week against tour guys, so you don't really know. I think him playing with Joel, playing with one of the better players in the world and seeing how his game stacks up, huge confidence-wise going forward for him. Because he's like, dude, I know if I can play with that guy, I can play.

I can play. You still got to go prove it. He's got to go get a card on the Cornfairy tour and move his way up. But, like, now in his mind, like, that doubt should be removed. Like, I know I can do this. Yeah, that's a big stepping. don't for him. He would have been paired against two guys that no one was really talking about in the final group. It could have been a totally different thing. But to do it with the guy that

everyone was talking about going into the start of the week, the guy that was the favorite, Joel Damon, I mean, it was impressive. I mean, to shoot 62 on the last day of a golf tournament, I don't care what level it is. 62, 62. You still got to, you can't fake it and shoot 62. No, that doesn't happen by accident. And Joel was interviewed after the round. I said, like, I don't know much about this guy. I don't know where he comes from, but he can play. Like his game is real. And when that comes from a guy that's doing it for real that you're watching on TV every week, that's got to go a long way for Zach.

Well, let's get right to it. Here's Zach Smith joined us on golf subpar. Speaking of the 2020, Scott Still Open, we got a very special guest in studio. The champ is here. Zach Smith, welcome, buddy. Yeah, thanks for having me. Yeah, thanks for kicking my ass. It was great.

It was really fun to be there. I feel like this is awkward right now. Colt having to look at a guy that drummed him last week. It's beautiful. Well, tell us, first off, you go out, you win. 20 Gs. What was a celebration like? Went home, got some champagne and some sushi.

Awesome. That's a dinner of champions. Quarantine style. I love it. Exactly. When you're going, when you first signed up for a Scottsdale Open, did you ever imagine,

A, there would be this much, like, media publicity behind it, and B, that, like, you winning would get you, like, I mean, people are talking about you on Twitter, never heard of you, guys are betting on you overseas. Like, how weird is that for just signing up for the Scottsdale Open? Yeah, crazy. I mean, I signed up for it early on. I knew I wanted to do it a while ago,

and, and, I mean, I didn't expect any of this attention or media or any of this. And, you know, having guys like you in the field, Colt and other tour guys, that's awesome. You're right in contention. You're in the last group going into the last day, and you're paired with tournament favorite. Joel and guest to the program. Correct. Joel Damon.

What was it like playing with Joel? And I mean, obviously a lot of eyes were on him, considering he was the five or six to one favorite going into the week. Yeah. I mean, I was pretty nervous on that first hole. I mean, you know, I've never had cameras on me before. So I was the first time ever having that sort of attention. Well, let Drew know what that feels like. Yeah, tell me everything.

I've always died to know what that would be like. I feel like I would freak out. Yeah, I think it helped a little bit almost because golf felt almost secondary. You know, just worrying about cameras and, you know, Joel was the best player I've played with, you know, highest ranked. And so that was good to help just let me, you know, play golf, not think about what I'm doing. and felt good with my game, helped me stay out of my own head and just keep the ball in play, hit some greens, and go to work. Yeah, you just, you went on an absolute tear on the back nine,

which I thought the back nine was the harder nine around there, and you didn't seem to find it that way at all. Yeah, I mean, you know, kept the ball in play. 93% of fairways. So good is that. It's probably two are leading, I would think. 82% of greens, and, yeah, I mean, I was 93% inside of 10 feet all week. That also helps.

You add those up? I have no idea what I was in because you were wondering. Colt actually hit it in the desert a few times. I did. It's shocking. I did take another side of that. But when you're playing with Joel last round, like here you got, you know, top 50 in the FedEx Cup standings right now, you've been playing some developmental tours,

many tours, stuff like that. Is there extra incentive for you being like, all right, here's my shot against a dude that's really doing this out on the PJ tour. Like, I'm going to see how I stack up. Yeah. I mean, I didn't really have any expectations. You know, I mean, that I think helped because I just wanted to see where I stacked up against, you know, some of the top guys.

And, yeah, I mean, it just, you know, shows me of doing good stuff. Yeah, and you obviously have the game to compete against. I mean, like you said, Joel's one of the, he's top 70 in the world. He's a great player and been on tour now for a few years. It's got to give you a lot of confidence going out on the McKinsey tour that you can compete and work your way up. Yeah, exactly. I mean, and he was great to play with too.

You know, he was talking to me on the first hole and that helped settle me in a little bit, too. He's one of the most chill guys. That's a friendly dude to have in the final group. Yeah, if you'd have been paired with me, probably been a little different. I'm not nice. Colt's a huge asshole.

You want no part of that. Speaking of Colt, on the back, my boy turned and what, would you shoot five under on the front? You came out, four or five? Four or five. Four or five.

Four under on the front from, on a one to ten scale, how worried about Colt were you when you saw his name just creeping up the leaderboard? One to ten. One being, don't care at all.

Ten being like, holy shit, here comes Colt. I mean, honestly, I'd give it a six or seven. That's all. That's good. It's respectable.

I'll take it too. I'm honored. Yeah. Yeah, I didn't look at the leaderboard until the turn. And I saw, I was at 13, you were at 13. I can't remember. There were a couple other guys right up there. And we were one back, and that's when I knew it was, you know.

And then you just decided to say, see you guys later. I'm just going to go ahead and take like a five-shot lead with a few holes to play. Joel told me a funny story. He said you were on 16T and you had like a four-shot lead, and you asked him if you had to give a speech afterwards. Yeah. And his response was, why? Are you working on writing it right now?

Like, I love that. That's awesome. Yeah. So, I mean, is this arguably the biggest win you've had in your career so far? No question. I mean, this is the best field I've ever played in, too. So, I mean, I just turned pro in August for the Arizona Open. I actually finished second there.

Yeah. So, you know, had success right away. And then just played some mini-tour events, Golden State Outlaw until now. And then, yeah, this was definitely the biggest field I've ever played in. Give us some short-term goals. Like, you got McKinsey Tour status. You obviously want to go play well there, but, like, do you see your... yourself being on the PJ tour in a year, two years, three years?

What's the goal? One's going to be tough with no Q school. Right. It's true. You can Monday end the corn fairy and win, though. Okay. There we go. I'm asking Zach the questions, Sleece.

Yeah. Yeah, I mean, I'd love to be on tour. That's a goal for sure. Short term, get up to McKenzie tour. You know, I might try and go try and Monday for some of these corn fairy that are coming up with the time off. And, you know, especially if McKenzie doesn't happen, then, you know, I don't have a place to play this summer. Well, hopefully that does happen. How big is the, like, financial relief of winning, like, 20 grand?

That's a good, that's a good payday anywhere, really good on, like, with the state of the mini tours right now. How much, like, relief does this provide you knowing that, like, all right, now I got some funds. I can go out and pursue this thing the way I want to. Yeah, I mean, that's big, obviously, you know, just being, I was getting tight at the end there right before this event. So it was good timing to take home some money. But yeah, I mean, I just plan on using it up in Canada next year. What do you think you need to do to get your game to that level to compete against guys like Joel Damon and stuff on the PJ tour?

What's the one part of your game you need to work on the most? Consistency with putting. Yeah. I mean, I think that's the most volatile part of the game for me. Awesome. Well, man, we can't thank you enough. And we really, I mean, super happy for you. That was an awesome win and well done.

And hopefully you're not playing it next year. You're on another tour playing it. But if you are, I'll see you there, and I'm trying to get sleaze to play. Yeah, I might be throwing my hat back in the ring. Long-awaited return to the Jix. It's time. Awesome. But congratulations, man.

I know everybody's proud of you, everybody's happy. And you made a lot of people a lot of money, so shout out to you. Thanks for joining us, man. Yeah, thank you. Man, special thanks to Zach Smith. We're coming by and join us for a few minutes. What a nice kid he is. Man, what a super nice kid, so genuine, so down to earth.

And I know he made a lot of people happy with the way. Not only himself, but there's a lot of people. Coolest thing about these things, there's gambling. You can bet on these things. And I know a bunch of guys were hitting them on Twitter saying, thank you. I had you at $750 to 1. I don't care what you put down. That's a nice chunk.

Well, Sleazy, there were some big names in action this past week. The Taylor made Driving Relief at Seminole. Like I said, big names, Ricky Fowler, Dustin Johnson, Rory McElroy, Matthew Wolf. A little two-on-two squad. Did you have any action on it? I didn't have much action on it just because I feel like these things are so hard to handicap. Like the price is like, you know, Ricky and Wolf were such huge dogs. If I was going to lay, I would have bet on them just because I think it's pretty much a toss-up,

especially with guys coming out of quarantine, but it was fun, man. First time seeing live golf, the guys were miced up the whole time. I'm starting to think this whole, hey, we want these guys miced up. We want to hear what they're talking about. I don't know if it's been executed to perfection yet. We've got world-class golfers. We're expecting them to, like, be funny and entertain for four hours. That's a tough ass, but it was fun to just see real golf being played.

Here's my opinion on that. You're going to throw microphones on guys. Not everyone in the world is funny. Not everyone's entertaining. Like, some guys are just really good at golf. That's what they got. This ain't their job to put a mic in front of them. them and be entertained.

Like DJ, one of the best golfers in the world. I don't know that, like, people are dying to hear DJ's interviews because he's going to say something funny. It's just a hard, like, everybody wants everyone to be miced up and stuff, but I'm just not sure that, like, that's not their job. They're not, like, entertainers in the sense that, like, they get in front of a mic. They play golf really well. So if you get, if you do mic them up and it's not great, it's hard to really throw

stones. But, dude, that's not what this guy's here to do. I totally agree. You could probably find four guys that would be that, but the golf wouldn't probably be quite as high quality. The risk wouldn't be as high, yeah. Exactly. And I mean, obviously in today's world, you've got to be very careful with what you say, which I, for one, think it should be fun and just let's enjoy it. It's okay to make fun of each other. It's nothing personal. Doesn't make you a bad person. It's just out there to have a good time and trash talk. If you sat there with you and people sat there with you and I and listened to us, talk to each other at Whist Brock, they probably wouldn't think we liked each other very much. These two are the meanest human beings a lot. But it's fun and it's entertaining and everyone around us thinks it's hilarious.

Because you get it too. You know like the vibe of the whole deal. But it's tough when you just slap a mic on those guys. put a camera in their face, like, hey, have some good banter for the next four hours and entertain these people in between shots when you're the only group on the golf course. But like you said, Roy McElroy, Dustin Johnson, were the heavy favorites going in. It was tight the whole day. Yeah. You know, they got off to a nice early lead. There comes Matthew Wolf and Ricky Fowler. Ricky played incredible. Made seven birdies, I think. Comes down to a closest to the pin contest on 17 to see who's going to win it all. And Roy threw in a clutch shot to about 13 feet to nudge out Matthew Wolf's shot. And they were the champions. Yeah, I thought it was a cool way to end it.

Like, all right, there's six carryovers, one shot, one hole. There's no, like, let's keep playing holes and this thing could get dragged out. Everyone gets one shot. Somebody's going to be crown winner at the end of this thing. I was shocked. Ricky played the best golf by far throughout the thing. Roy looked pretty good, too. But, like, I was fully expecting Ricky to be the guy.

If I was going to bet on that, who hits the closest to the hole, it would have been on Ricky. He, like, arguably his worst shot of the day on that shot. But it was cool to see it. I mean, the last dude on the tee, Rory ends up, you know, edging out. I think it was five feet closer than Wolf. It was a cool way to end it. But look, if you had action on it, it was very exciting for you. Yeah, there is action available.

That's fun. It came down to the last shot, which is when you're gambling. I mean, well, I'd rather win easily. I'd rather just win on like whole 12. Yeah. But it was cool to have it in that way. And the favorites got it done. But we have another match coming up.

Yes. Match number two, champions for charity. Tiger Woods, Peyton Manning, first Phil Mickelson and Tom Brady. So we've added two guys to the match this year. It's going to be down at Metalyst Golf. Club in South Florida. And once again, there's a heavy favorite. Yeah, I think Tiger and Peyton are going off at like minus 225, the last I saw, which for me, I don't know how you feel about this,

but like I feel like these things are pretty much a toss up, right? Like Tiger and Phil head to head, you kind of know what to expect there. I think we're going to get the same caliber of golf more or less out of the two of those guys. Then you throw Tom Brady and Paid Manning in the mix, and the whole back nine is a modified alternate shot. Everyone tees off. But then Peyton and Brady are going to be up the hitting shots that, like, actually matter. Like, I don't know how you handicap that. Like, That's a tough. No one's ever seen these guys really golf before. So if I was betting on that, I'm going to probably be taking the plus money just being like,

that's a pretty big, you know, that's a pretty big price to pay to get on the favorite side. I have never played golf with Peyton Manning or Tom Brady. So I really don't know what their games are like. I've seen what their handicaps are, but that doesn't tell me anything. I would probably be willing to say they're not going to help much the first nine holes. I would have to think the first nine is just Tiger versus Phil more or less. The second nine, they're going to have to start contributing. And that's going to be the X factor for sure.

and it's going to be interesting because those guys are going to have to hit a lot of shots that mean a lot. Tiger Woods being a member at medalist and playing there quite a bit, I see why they're the heavy favorite. And I know Phil's had a break, but our guy, Phil, hadn't been in the best of form lately. No, and you put Tiger on his home courses from hitting putts. You saw a guy's struggle at Seminole this weekend reading the greens. I think that's a big advantage for Phil.

But the fun for me is going to start on the back nine. Like, you play with pros that you'll play the 16th at TPC Scottsdale, right, for the Phoenix Open. They could be Olympic champions, NBA champions, NFL. They all get on that tee and are like, oh, my God, they freak out. They're super nervous because they're out of their element. They're not doing what they're good at. Here goes Brady and Peyton. Not only are they out of their element, but they're going to have every eyeball in the sports world.

Because they're going to be not just golfers watching this. There's going to be drag football fans into the mix, too, because it's Brady and Peyton. I think there's going to be some weird stuff going on in terms of shots we see hit. I read an article that said the last time Tom Brady played medalist, he shot 106. Oh, boy. So there you go. I don't know what teas they're going to be playing. I'm assuming they're going to give those guys a little juice.

I would hope if they put them on the back teas. I mean, the odds of them helping are going to be super small, but there's going to be some weird shots hit, I feel. It'll be fun. TNT, you might want to expand that broadcasting window a little bit. It could go a little long on Sunday. But here's my thought. Tiger Woods, home golf course. Peyton Manning, by far the best trash talker of the full.

from what I've been hearing, I'm going with those two guys. Yeah, I think that's the, depending on the price, I think, I think they will win the match. I hate laying that much money. Yeah, I don't like laying that much juice. But Peyton, I feel like is the catalyst for this whole thing. Get him the mic, let him go. I think he'll kind of warm the water up for everybody else. Just the same way he's done in like the, you know, the pre-hype interviews and things like that.

Hopefully he brings Tiger in to engage more than he did in the first match and the other dudes. Well, I'm not going to confirm or deny it, but a little birdie has told me one of our special guests here on golf subbar the big man charles barcly might be involved in something he's definitely on the broadcast team but there might be more to it oh interesting stay tuned to find out he just threw out there it's going to be very very exciting but speaking of very exciting yeah our next guest here we go here we go i mean arguably was one of the most famous people in the world when he was playing college football at down at texas n m johnny johnny johnny football johnny mansell was kind enough to come in and sit down with us. I was excited about this interview. We've been working hard

to try to get this one. Yeah, this is one I'm excited for. I mean, he's, you know, we saw Mansell mania, all the hype that came around him and like getting his story and he was so forthcoming, so willing to talk to us. Like I think this interview will recap it afterwards, but like I was really looking forward to it and it didn't disappoint. Well, that's not waste any more time. Let's get to Johnny Mansell here on golf subpar. All right, you all know our next guest. We're very excited to bring him on. He is Heisman trophy winner, one of the most recognized. recognizable nicknames in all of sports. And on top of that, Colt carries a two handicapped, which I think me and you know is bullshit

right now at this point. But here he is. Johnny Manzell in the building. How we doing, brother? Good to be with you, bro. Appreciate you guys having me. We mentioned that little two piece. So we showed up.

We played a little golf recently. Texting some of your boys, some of the guys you're playing with around town. Hey, what's his game like? What's a fair game? All this is like he's a scratch. He's really good. His last rounds are 71, 72, whatever. We get up on the first tee.

when we're all playing together and I'm a two. I'm a two, maybe three. I felt like a bit of a hustle at that point. Well, it's weird. You guys already know your handicaps. Me, mine fluctuates. You know, some days you shoot 80, some days you shoot 70. It moves a little bit.

Like, I'm a, you know, normal, like an average golfer that plays six, seven days a week. Yeah. Normal average golfer that plays 76 a day for a month. Yeah. You got some speed, though. I'll give you that. I'm not going to lie. The Rock kind of tore me up the day we went out through the rock.

It got you a little bit. It was, uh, been playing. playing the leaf and been playing some other places around and found my way, you know, working through these places pretty easy. And then I got to the rock and it humbled me a little bit for sure. A little tighter than the leaf. Definitely a little bit tighter than the leaf. I probably like the leaf a little bit better, but I love the rock. It was a great experience. You were probably a little nervous playing with two superstars like myself. Yeah, you knew you were coming on and all that. I mean, you only hit it like 225, 215.

Shit's clean though, isn't it? No, it's clean. It's cool. Oh, just once he gets the hybrid of the wood in his hand, he's money. But from there, you're coming. But from there, you're But from there, it's like a driver starts coming backwards a little bit at times. I'd rather see Colt with a six iron than the hybrid. If four hybrid comes out, I'm like, guys, we got stressed right now. We need to get him up. We need to play up a team. I've been seeing some good Colt highlights, though.

You know, some PGA highlights they came out with. They had a little hole in one I saw the other day. Yeah, Quail Hollow. Quail, yeah. Back in the day, miracle shot. I'm pretty locked in the golf game. So when you pop up, I'm like, I can just tell just from the body stature exactly. Who's on screen?

Yeah. You like curves, I hear. Yeah, you know, you know, anything. Yeah, a little thick with two Cs. But, dude, your golf game is good. Let's get in a little golf. Your golf game is good. I know when we played the other day, you mentioned, like,

obviously you're playing a little bit of football back in high school, dabbling in football, but you did play some golf at time, like when the season allowed for it in high school. Yeah, no, my, you know, my dad taught me from like five years old. That was one of those things that lived on a golf course my whole life growing up. He says, you know, you can't go hang out with your friends in different neighborhoods or go be a huddleum around pretty much the streets. or you can take the golf card anytime you want,

go grab a bag of balls and go wear yourself out anytime. So that's kind of how I grew up. Hated it. I'm not going to lie. I did not like it. Like I was playing travel baseball, football was coming into my life, and golf was just kind of something that my dad taught me to do on the side. When I got to my second year in Cleveland,

I moved from downtown and went and got on a golf course and then started playing every 30, 45 minutes I would get in the afternoon out of practice, fell in love with it again. And then, you know, for the last, really the last year and a half, I'm probably playing minimum four days a week. When you were in Cleveland, was that kind of just like an escape, just to get away from football, get away, so nobody bothers you or anything like that?

Yeah, it was great. I had two memberships out there. Me and J.R. Smith, of all people, would be walking, telling me more about you. You know, these courses all the time in Cleveland, and people would just be looking at us like we're crazy. We're both top button all the way at the top, covered in tattoos, just like looking like, you know,

not your standard country club, you know, looking guys. but, you know, it's kind of been an escape for me, especially now. It's, you know, not playing. It's a chance for me to go out and compete. I have nobody to be mad at myself at the end of the day other than me. And, you know, I haven't got to the point where I'm grinding it, but I'm definitely, you know, taking it from like a six, seven, like, handicapped to, like, get into where I feel like I'm supposed to go out

and shoot a round par every day. What's the goal in golf for Johnny Mansell? That's a great question. I mean, for me, this is something that I've, like, really dove into the last year and, like, fully in love with it. going out and playing 36 or 50 holes in the day and just going around and around and playing and playing and playing. 50. It's like, you know, it's a great time.

I'm not getting any better like I would be, you know, sitting and practicing. So I'm kind of the point now where I kind of want to take it to another level and get to a point where I can go, you know, start shooting in the 60s more often and, you know, actually be what I consider being a good golfer. Are you trying to get into like these, like they got Tahoe, right? the celebrity events. I got the one in Florida, what is it, Diamond Resorts or whatever. Like you're trying to play, because like I play with you now. I play with the guys that have won it. Like you're headed in that direction. Do you want to play those? No, 100%. I want to do more things like that. And it's different, you know, playing with a guy who's played on the PGA tour and then playing, you know, against guys like

DJ over here. You know, it's a little bit different, you know, it's a little bit different vibe to it sometimes. But it's getting comfortable playing with everybody. And, you know, the group of guys we have here since I've been in Scottsdale has been fun, competitive. We have have a game every day and I think it's, you know, it's making me a better golfer for sure. There's a lot of good players out here. No doubt. I said when I moved from Dallas, I was like, my bank account took a hit because in Dallas I could show up and play with all my buddies and they sucked and I just wear them out.

Out here, you got a tour player. It seems like in every game you play and it's the real deal. Oh, it's fun though. I mean, I've learned a lot just about the game, seeing how guys approach certain shots or certain things set up. Just a lot of things that I didn't see. In Texas coming out here, you see a caliber of golf. and a caliber of golf course.

It's really high. Either one of you tell me when's the last time you got a bad lie in Scottsdale. Yeah, that's true. You also get, like, playing where I went to school in Fort Worth, right? Like, you go down there, there's no grass, there's no nothing. You come out here, the wind blows more than 10. You're like, nah, I'm out of here.

I'll wait for tomorrow. It'll be blown zero. I went and played in West Texas and Midland, and, like, you hit a ball down the middle of the fairway, and you go, and it's like two inches to your right, it's perfect grass, and then there's this little hole, like, full of, like, rock hard dirt out here. We're spoiled.

If you miss the green, it's probably easier to chip than it is to putt on some of these greens out here. For sure. We definitely get spoiled out here to Scottsdale, but I want to talk a little bit of football with you. I mean, you were obviously destined for a superstar. I'm coming out of high school. And you were compared to the likes of Brett Farr, Michael Vic, Drew Brees. Was that something you, like, kind of welcomed, or did that kind of overwhelm you as a young kid? I think I ignored a lot of it.

I was with a really good high school program, you know, small town in the middle of nowhere outside of San Antonio. It was just strict. It was military style type of thing. you know, everybody is equal to everybody, and that changes once you get to a different level in collegiate in pro sports. Obviously, your higher-end best guys get treated a little bit differently than everybody else. But being in high school, I think I just had a good base of being taught, you know, how to handle certain things, block things out, and just be another one of the guys. So, you know, until I got to college and things really blew up, you know, I'd never really

crept into my mind whatsoever. But, dude, your high school, like, from what I've read, your status in high school, like it's been written that you had folk hero status in high school. Like that's where Johnny Football, from what I understand, like that nickname was developed. You were the dude. Like when I think of Texas High School full, I think like varsity blues, right? Johnny, all that. Like you were Johnny Mox and you were Lance Harbor. Like, what's it like being a kid in high school and you're doing everything?

Like, what's this level of celebrity like in your hometown there? Small retirement town, 40 miles west of Curville. It wasn't this, you know, superstar. but just the energy for the whole team, you know, going to state semifinals two years in a row, sophomore and junior year. When we would go travel places or go playing San Antonio, like, we brought on a pretty good crowd. So, I mean, I really enjoyed, you know, my time playing there and probably, you know, worked out the best that I was in that area, playing in that area that ended up getting me to A&M.

Yeah, well, you originally committed to Oregon. What the hell were you thinking? Quack, quack is what I was thinking. You've seen those jerseys after the, you know, there's a lot of fly gear. And that's, oh. Well, that's eventually once I sat back down after, you know, Chip Kelly offered me when I was in Oregon. I kind of sat back down. I was like, my parents have to go to Austin from here, Austin to Portland, Portland, to Eugene.

It was just a nightmare. And to be honest, I didn't have very many, like, good offers in the state of Texas. Well, I'm an SMU Mustang, and I know June Jones was there, and he was all about Johnny football. He told me he was all about you since you were a sophomore in high school, has been begging you to come play in his offense for years. Couldn't say nice for things about you. I loved him. You know, we spend time together in Canada way, you know, down the road, you know, after the college part. I just don't think I could have seen myself going to a school that gets beat by 30 every week.

Yeah, should have saved some of that Pony Express money for the Mansell Express. I mean, they're all stuck up. Instagram the other day, him running down the field at SMU. I'm like, come on, man. I saw that made like not two dudes. That'll forever, like, it hit my memory as like a comeback, like the first breakout game, you know, really kind of let people know what's up. Very happy for you. That's a good team to do it.

That's a good team to do it. Sitting in this room. When you're in high school and you're doing all the things that you're doing, you're winning every single award, you know, in the state of Texas, which is the biggest state in the country for high school football. Did you imagine like, there's got to be some doubt like, hey, I'm great here. I'm great in small town Texas. Like, am I great in the country?

Did you expect to do what you did, like going into high school or going into college? I didn't get out of high school. I was just like, wow, I get to be on my own and do whatever I want. If I want to go to McDonald's at midnight, I can do it without having to ask my parents. It was like my initial, like, get out of the house. I graduated early. And I went to A&M, you know, I skipped my spring senior year and went ahead and graduated early.

And I loved it. I just dove right in, followed the older guys lead. And, you know, never really was like that huge of an expectation even with what I did in high school. It was just kind of like, you know, here's another good high school player that's going to a big school. Let's see if he figures it out. And, no, I'm not going to lie.

I sunk my, you know, my first year and a half. But people always look at, you know, my freshman year being a big year, you know, my red shirt, time in between me actually starting was, I wouldn't say a nightmare, but it was definitely a transition period for sure. Well, things transitioned pretty quickly. You did all right. Once you did get in there. Like, what was it like?

I mean, you literally became one of the most famous people on the planet in the span of like 24 hours after that first massive game you had. What was that like? I mean, you're at Texas A&M. Probably nobody really bothered you. And then all of a sudden, this happened. and now you're known around the world. What was it like for you?

It really happened after the Alabama game. You know, you get back from that game. You go to class on the Monday afterwards and it's like, couldn't walk across campus, you know, get somebody to finally come get me, golf cart me across campus. And then, you know, from there it was kind of like a hiding game almost. You know, anytime I did go out or did do anything,

it was portrayed in a negative light and it was all over the place. And then I just had to get to a point where I tried to kind of hide from it a little bit. And the next semester, I took all online classes. I didn't go on campus at all other than the football facility. So, you know, it was definitely a transition process for that as well as my parents, too, who were living in College Station at the time. Was that cool for you?

Like, I mean, cool. Like, you're taking online classes. You can't go to class because you get mobbed by, like, fellow students. Is that, like, for a kid from small town, Texas coming up, like, oh, my God, all of a sudden I'm at, like, you know, God status on campus and college station. Was that cool or were you like, this sucks? Fame is a funny, funny thing. And I think anybody that kind of goes through it on like a really high magnitude, you know,

will say this. It's a super double-edged sword, right? You have the one thing that you're like, okay, when I'm a kid looking at a poster or, you know, watching, you know, the 05 masters of Tiger Woods or something, you're like, I want to do this. This is what I want to be. I want to be that rock star. And then when you get there, like we're seeing unfolding the last dance a little bit right now

is like, when you're at the top, it's not always the best to be at the top. Like there's a lot that comes with it in a negative way as well. So, you know, I had the initial like, this is super, super lit. Like I can do anything I want. I can go anywhere and get on Twitter and hit up any athlete I would have ever thought about, you know, wanting to meet. And I met some great people that way. But at the same time that you're looking out, people are looking in on your glass box too. And you're 20, 19?

18. 18 at the time. I remember when like Manzelmania, quote-unquote, whatever you want to call it, came out. I remember, like, I'm as far removed as you can be. I'm out of college. I'm out here in Arizona. And, like, all of a sudden, after the Alabama game, it was like, you couldn't turn on the TV without being like,

yo, here's this kid in college station going ham. Yeah, it was nuts. I mean, got a good team. You look at the guys now who I played with it. I was there. Jake Matthews just signed a, you know, Max Deal with the Falcons. Mike Evans. Like, I had guys around me that were, you know,

Beast. Luke Jockel was the second pick in the draft the year before me. Like, you know, I had great experiences in college football that I wouldn't give back for anything in the world. And I think that's what, you know, I kind of expected the same type of camaraderie and the same type of thing when I got to the NFL.

And it's just not that. And I think that's probably what, like, shell shocked me a little bit when I got there. So you're an 18-year-old kid going around Texas A&M campus, the biggest deal there is. Normal stuff. What's the coolest thing you got to explain?

I mean, there's obviously a lot of negatives. You couldn't go anywhere because you get attacked everywhere. What's some of the coolest things you got to experience when you're in college? I remember going to a college football award show. in Miami. We got to go if you won the O'Brien or the Blitnikoff

or the major individual awards in college football, you got to go to Miami for three or four days. I remember landing and having all these people from live and different clubs, like, going out and all these other guys who were in college were like, yo, what are we doing tonight going to some like the hotel bar downstairs and trying to sneak like a pack of beer?

I remember like being 18 years old and like doing South Beach. the way you're kind of like supposed to do South Beach at like 25 when you make enough money to kind of do it the right way and it kind of spoiled me for the rest of for your life well my college 21st you know I'd leave get on a BJ and go to Vegas for my 21st and then go back and catch class on Monday Stan normal just normal shit Colt was like that at yeah Colt was a big deal at SMU bro you guys probably had a lot of similar experiences I mean the money at SMU like this guy is just oozing money true you should have seen what Colt drove in college dude raised a lot of red flags you know how that incident was stolen once actually you know how that institute when you're going through this dude you're talking about like going to miami you're flying on PJs to Vegas and coming back and going to got class the next morning sounds like online class but you still got class whatever it is was there ever a moment and you got by the way you got

rappers shouting you out in songs like you were the freaking everywhere right was there ever a moment where you were like holy shit i can't believe this is like is this real life like this is fast yeah one the crazy story about how i met jjjjjj about how i met jr Drake was, you know, I'm buying sweatshirts in my, you know, dorm room off of October's very own.com. I'd probably played like four or five games into my first year. I get an email back from somebody like on the team. You know, bro, we appreciate you reaching out, supporting, not asking for it like most

people in your position would do. Continued the relationship with this dude back and forth. It ended the, you know, summer, you know, I end up going to Toronto, going up there, lying up there, literally watched him drop, probably three or four songs, kept this relationship going. I remember one time driving through downtown Toronto and being in the back of this fandom with Drake,

just kind of looking around like, I'm a kid from, you know, Curville, Texas, in the middle of nowhere sitting in, you know, Toronto, riding around with the biggest, you know, it was the only person I ever wanted to meet. So it was just kind of that thing like, you know, I went after people that, not necessarily went after, but like wanted to attach myself and like meet people

people that, like, were truly the biggest thing in the world to me and sitting there doing that, like, being in college and having to go back for my, like, second training camp, you know, a week later was like, all right, everybody else is kind of sitting in college station, like in their dorm room. I'm sitting here at the four seasons in Toronto, chilling. Yeah, that's a different deal. Is that how it started with, like, you and Drake, like everybody knows you got the owl. Are you guys still boys? Are you guys still talk here and there? Like, you know, whenever I get a chance, You know, I've been to probably 50 shows, got a chance to go see him in Paris, bounced around a little bit with them over there and been to probably, you know, another 20 shows here.

Like, great, great friend off of, you know, something that happened 18 at the, you know, height of my, you know, football kind of stardom. But, you know, the cool thing about this and the thing that I like the most about what fame has kind of brought me has been the people I meet, right? the days that, just us playing off that one day, that'll always have a, you know, lasting memory in, you know, on my head, good people. You meet enough people in this game. You're bound to meet some bad ones. So when you find people that you connect with and you like, you know,

you remember it forever, I'm all about, you know, time with the boys and doing things that, you know, the crew likes. Other than, other than Drake, like, who's someone that, like, reached out to you that you're like, damn, I can't believe this guy's actually. I remember going to a Mavs game one time. And they were playing the heat, and LeBron sent somebody to grab me courtside and tell me to go back after the game and meet him. And the funny thing about that was that started a relationship just from being at the game that I ended up signing with Maverick Carter, his agent, and was looped into LeBron's LRMR marketing agency, end up going to Cleveland, their offices in Akron. So it started a friendship with those guys that'll last forever too.

So I was just randomly being in Dallas on a weekend, hanging out with some friends, going to a game, meet LeBron James. What's LeBron say when you go, like he sends his boys over there, grab Johnny, bring him back to the locker. What's LeBron say when you show up? Like, hey, dude. No, nice to meet you. What's going on? How are things? You know, just kind of the normal talk.

And then from there, you kind of feel out, you know, how each person is and go from there. And, you know, we hit it off right away. I remember, you know, getting done with my last game in college, we played the Chick-fil-A bowl against Duke. you know, Mav comes. I sign with Maverick, we leave, we go straight to Miami. Dinner with LeBron that night, go to a heat game, you know, drive to the game with him, get out, come back. It was like the whole, like, you know, recruiting process.

But in the time, I'm like, you know, 19, 20 years old. And I'm just like, this is insane. And it all happened so fast that I look back on it now sometimes. And it's kind of a blur. Yeah, that's crazy. I believe that. So then you go to the draft 2014. You get selected 22nd overall, where you kind of,

of like, oh damn, I got to go to Cleveland? Or were you like, all right, this is an opportunity. Let's make the most of it. I looked at it, and I remember sitting with my boys in College Station, just sitting there kind of looking at the roster. You had Josh Gordon, you had Jordan Cameron, you had Joe Thomas, Alex Mack. You had like really, really good pieces on the team, and they originally had the fourth pick and the 26 pick.

So, you know, there's 32 teams in the NFL. One team has two picks. They're bound to come around if you're a first round guy and pick you twice. So I kind of knew going in that my odds were just statistically better for me to go to Cleveland just because they have two picks. It would have been a little bit nicer if it was at four with a little bit extra signing bonus money, bonus money. But at the end of the day, sitting in that draft room and that green room for, you know, two, three hours, you always see the clip of Rogers sitting there kind of watching and waiting and go by. It's how each guy is, right?

You all have your expectation that you're the best and you're going to get drafted first and things are going to go, you know, the very, very best they can. And that's not always how it works. So, you know, it was definitely a shell shock. But at the end of the day, I was like, I'm kind of glad the slide was over a little bit. And I was glad to be, you know, going to Cleveland originally. So I'm a diehard Dallas Cowboy fan. And the rumor was that draft that Jerry had your name written on the draft slip.

Have you heard that? I've heard this. I don't know if I can confirm it. Yeah. I would love to know that was extra true. I've heard Stephen went over. The story I've heard is that he gave. gave Stephen the pick, and it was pretty much his pick. I look back at it like, I don't know if that

would have made things go downhill for me quicker or if it would have been, you know, really beneficial having a guy like Tony in the room, you know, knowing what I know about Tony now and having the relationship with him that I do, I think things could have been different. I didn't have that veteran, you know, presence whenever I was in Cleveland and it was more hostility a little bit. So that changed kind of my rookie year and how I thought about things. You know, you look back at the boys, though. I think they made a great pick there. You know, they made a guy who's going to be on the team for a long time who's a beast, you know, a pro bowler. So, you know, everything kind of shakes and works its way out and the way it's supposed to be. And, you know, at the end of the day,

you kind of look back and say, well, good for them if they didn't do it. And you won, like, you're Mr. You know, Mr. Football in the state of Texas coming out of high school. Actually, you have to speak to me and, you know, address me as Mr. Football anyway. Just you and me. Okay. Yeah. Okay, Colton dresses you as a master. So you won high school, you won Mr. You know, Mr. Football in Texas. You won the Heisman trophy.

When you're getting drafted into the league, right, Cleveland picks you. You've never, I'm sure you won whatever Pee-Wea award there was in Currville, Texas. You were the best player on every team we've ever been on. When you're going into the league, you just assume automatically. Like, I've been the best in every team I've ever been on every league. I was going to be the same way in the NFL. I don't think you assume it. I think you go out your first day and you realize that these guys are, you know,

it's obviously the NFL. You collect the best college players from hundreds of colleges around the world, biggest size. They fit a certain model of what an NFL player is, especially on the defensive end. So I'll never forget in there, again, one of my first training camps. We practice against the Buffalo Bills.

We're doing like this, you know, center guard, tackle, like little half-line, like running back drill, one of the ones the quarterbacks are kind of like, let's go, let's like go throw the ball or like do something other than just saying set hut. know, handing the ball off and running back. I remember snapping the ball, going handing the ball off, and kind of just like lackadaisically, like just turning out and like, you know, being out the other way.

And Mario Williams comes behind me and goes, who! And I'll never forget it being the first, like, instance where I was like, okay, I like look up like this. College locker rooms, you have some guys that are, you know, they're mammoth. They look the part for sure. this guy was just unbelievably freaking big just tree trunks for quads

6-7 280 pounds you're just looking at them like what do they even make you a lab I'm 511 maybe on a good day on my tippy toes like 205 it's a little intimidating yeah I'll do it I think Mario could but at the end of the day like I really think if you put like a grizzly bear in this room and like we're going to like let him go off and we're going to fight like I'll probably give it away Yeah, here.

Yeah, I believe that. That's a heart. How did the people of Cleveland? I think it's more I got maybe like a screw or too loose, but heart will go with heart. I was trying to say it in a nice way. I'll take the over on two. On one, yeah. So how did the people of Cleveland kind of accept you?

When you got there, were you just like, holy shit, Johnny Manzel Mania here? Or was it kind of? No, loved, loved me. You know, I was receptive very well in Cleveland when I got there. And, you know, I don't have a bad, a bad thing to say. about the people and the way the fans and everybody treated me in Cleveland. It was a really cool experience to have people that care that much, even when you're not performing the way you should be on the field.

For sure. In an ideal world, though, do you go to somewhere not, like Cleveland doesn't have the best reputation in the history of the world for developing quarterbacks, right? They got the jersey with the 22 different names on it and all that stuff. In an ideal world, do you go somewhere with maybe an established quarterback? You could sit behind him for a year, two, three, whatever, and then come in as opposed to a program that's a franchise that's struggling and you've got to come in quick they're begging for you quick this conversation you know goes a bunch of different ways right it's always the what if game kind of at this point what if somebody else drafted you what if this you know what if i do probably what i'm supposed to do and go back and finish my degree the way my parents would have wanted me to and stayed two more years in college what if then you know is archie griffin the only one with two eyes and trophies at the end of it after four years interesting

You know, I look at it like I could have stayed. It's not like where should I have got picked. You know, I feel like Cleveland would have taken a quarterback that year. If I had waited another year and came out the next year, Cleveland wouldn't have been on the board for a quarterback. So, you know, or maybe they would have, who knows, with what they do. You know, nevertheless, it's like, you know, you play the what-if game. It could have gone a million different ways. And, you know, it played out the way it did.

I felt like it was my best opportunity to be a six-foot quarterback drafted in the first round, the NFL, which hadn't happened since, like, Drew Brees. and he was drafted in the second. So it hasn't been like a legit, you know, starting quarterback in the league who had gone and flourished other than Breeze that was six foot. Maybe Michael Vic, and he's one of one. Do you miss playing it all? Oh, every day. You know, I think that's why I've gravitated so much towards golf.

Gives me the competitive, you know, I don't care anybody in this room. I'll go out and at the end of the day, you know, feel like I can play and have my best day and go have that competition and that drive. that I miss from the football side. Commerity is probably a little bit better on the, you know, on the golf side. You know, we do things outside of just playing. But, you know, I think that's the biggest reason why I've dove head into playing golf so much.

Well, you don't want these problems right here. I'll take everything. You're going to get. You're going to get these. You're going to handle this. You're going to get these. You mean, I'm playing against a guy who's played on tour done this. I got it.

I'm getting strokes, a T-box. I'm going to turn around and barking your ear one hole. You never know. I'll probably, I'll probably crack my pants like I did the first time. Colton Mario get a lot of, oh yeah, they look really similar. There's a lot of similarities across there. Me, Mario Williams, Cliff Kingsbury, we all get mixed up for each other. It's weird.

Pretty much. Yeah, it's very similar. When you're going through like the comeback and you were, you know, slated to playing Canada and all that type of stuff, was it like, were you ever up for that like, hey, I'm going to go to Canada, I'm going to kill it and I'm going to come back to the league and show what I can do? Or was it like, hey, man, I've been at the top of the world. this doesn't Canada doesn't appeal to me.

I loved Canada. Like I'll go, you know, I got to see every province go everywhere. The business side and what the like actual CFL was was a little bit ticky tacky, probably like a little bit, you know, not what I was used to coming from the Browns. But, you know, I loved being back in the locker room again, going through the X's and I was watching film, doing the whole thing. But 12 guys on the field, it's a different style of football, you know, you get three, downs. It's just, you know, it's way different. And looking back on it, I regret not listening to,

you know, my agent in that sense, going to the AAF and starting there from, you know, training camp to week one and doing that for seven weeks until it folded. And then I think I would have been a lot better off and it would have been my only chance to ever get back to the NFL. I think if I went and played my contract in Canada for two years, I don't think it would ever would have translated and helped me enough to get back to the NFL. Did you have any opportunity? after Cleveland to play in the NFL? I had a multitude of times where I really thought like this is it. You know, I'm going to get a chance to come back in.

Even I was looking for anything as far as practice squad, you know, just get me into a spring football session, cut me, you know, after June, July, whatever it is and OTAs are done. I just wanted the opportunity to get back in and just kind of grind it out. And I had a couple opportunities that I really thought were going to pan out. and then, you know, it kind of just things go different ways. Who were the dudes, or if any, that were, like, reaching out to you at these times? Like, when we were trying to find a home, right? CFL, NFL, NFL, whatever it was.

Who, or are there any, like, former or current NFL guys that were reaching out to you, like, hey, man, let me get in your ear and, like, give you some advice? Well, the guy who I listened to him would pick up the phone at any point in time and call was Josh McCown. You know, he came in my second year in Cleveland, you know, coming from the relationship I had in the room, my first year, you know, to the second year I come in, and Josh McCown couldn't be more chill. East Texas guy comes in, he's like, yo,

if you don't know something, just ask. If you don't know this, just this. Pretty much was just like, yo, tie a string to my backpack and just follow me wherever you want. Do the same schedule I do, go home at the same time, get here at the same time. I'll teach you what this whole thing is all about. And, you know, 16, 18 weeks later,

whatever it is after training camp and everything, I really felt like I had been, you know, groomed a little bit and taught and not just on the field, but off the field as well. He's a guy that, you know, if I could act like more, you know, than I do now, it would be Josh McCown. It's just been one of my favorite people, most relatable people. And I know any point in time on this podcast, whatever it is,

you pick up the phone, you call the guy. He's always been there, solid as it gets. That's awesome. So other than playing golf six, seven days a week, what's next for Johnny Mansell? What do you want to do with your life? I'm kind of at the point right now where I'm just laying low. trying to figure out life like anybody else does at some point in time.

You know, I don't, one point in time, you're young, you're at the top of the world, you feel like you have all the answers, and then, you know, you look back and it's been, you know, I'm coming up on my, you know, it's been almost eight, nine years since I've won the Heism, like things change, things go on. And, you know, right now I'm just trying to enjoy life and find a piece of happiness that I like that puts a smile on my face every day when I wake up and the rest will work itself out. So, you know, just trying to figure out me, where I like to be, what I like to do, and just get back to the roots a little bit so I can just kind of unwind from, you know, I was in L.A. for the last five years. So unwind from a crazy lifestyle and just kind of get back to figuring out who I am at the Blueprints. Can you like unwatch—like you mentioned L.A. Like, can you go out in L.A. and not get hassled? Can you go out here in Scottsdale and not get hassled? Like, is that even a possibility or is it everywhere you go, people want a piece?

I mean, probably, you know, L.A. there's paparazzi and you do. the whole thing and they're just looking for any crumbs and anything they can get here. You know, I'm going to run into people. No matter if we're going and playing golf or, you know, we're anywhere around town, like chances of me running into somebody that recognized me is pretty high. And then, you know, from there, I've met a lot of great people from it, from it really random, you know, it doesn't really matter. So I enjoy the banter I have kind of with people coming up to a certain point, you know.

Being out and being with the boys trying to have a good night and dealing with it, it's kind of, there's one way to handle it there and then there's another kind of at a different setting. Is that why you got the mustache? I was going to be a little incognito. The mustache is because I've been, you know, 60 days of quarantine. I don't know what else you guys are doing, but things are getting a little weird by now. I start calling you Officer Mansell when it's show up. It looked like a Super Troopers extra.

I don't know if I have to tell you that again, but it's Mr. Football. Oh, Mr. Football. Apologies. You got anything else or do you want to get into the first? I mean, I got a freaking. I mean, we can do this one. I got a million things.

Like, when people talk about Johnny Manzo, there's a ton of things in the media and stuff, what's the biggest misconception of the average guy out there when he thinks of you? I mean, I got a good heart. I'm a good dude. You know, the one thing you can ask for any of my friends that I hang around with is I'm right or die, right? If you're in my circle, I keep, you know, for the most part, kind of small. But I treat my boys the right way. I treat people the right way for the most part.

You know, I'm human as anybody else is and have my flaws where I'm going to have a bad day and something's going to go wrong. I look back on it the next day, reflect, and try and be better from it going forward. Like, I think deep down I truly am a good person. I just, listen, I'm 18, 19, 20, 21, 22 years old with the world at my fingertips. And I raged. Like, sue me. You know, I had a lot more fun going into a nightclub walking out with two girls than I did putting the pads on and going and grinding it out.

And the thing that I've learned through time is you get out of the game that you love. what you put into it. It's the same thing with golf. It's the same thing with football. If you grind 12 hours a day, 10 hours a day, whatever it is, and you go put your head down to it and that's what you focus on, destined for success. But the second you start letting everything else on the outside creep in, not to mention letting what comes in on the outside absorb you more than the game that you love, you're headed for failure. So I've had a lot of time to sit back and reflect a lot of, you know, things I wish I would have done different. But at the end of the day, like, I have more fun living that, like, famous lifestyle going out and doing things with my boys than I did put it in to work.

And, you know, when you look back at it, that's the whole story at the end of the day. Hold on. Get out what you put in. So two girls? Maybe three. Go back to the two, dude. Go back. I want to talk about this two girls.

Yeah. Hold on. What kind of girls? What hair color? Like, like really sweet. Okay. Keep going. Keep going.

All right. I'm with you. I'm following. And just kind of chill. Don't get his excited. You have my attention? What else, though? What are they into?

Is that a wedding ring? Don't worry about that. That's just the decoy. A wedding rig. Hey, do you still have the wig from Vegas? That's the best story. That's the best story ever, dude. I mean, it's probably the end of what ended my, you know, real chance of ever having an NFL

career again. But, you know, at the time, it was like, you know, I'm injured. dying in the snow and four degrees in Cleveland and I was kind of like Rodman. I need a break, but it's week 15. I need a break. Like I need to go. I'm exhausted from getting hit from every angle.

Just, you know, the life, especially being a quarterback in Cleveland, a little bit exhausting, just trying to live normal life a little bit. You go to the grocery store, you wake up the next day, you're on TMZ for buying a bottle of wine or whatever it is. So it's definitely nitpicky there. So I was just kind of like, you know, let me get away. Well, knowing what I know now, it's really easy to get like a private plane when you need to be back somewhere and not just flying, you know, coach. So I had this whole thing planned out, go out there in the morning, fly back at like 11 o'clock at night.

I'd already spent seven hours in Vegas. There was a zero percent chance I was getting on that flight to go back. at that point in time the thing i could think about the most was just turn your phone off and throw it in the drawer and wear a wig and go to hawkisson and have a great time when when during that trip did you did you have a great time yeah i bet it did in the moment yes sleaze refil 1030 on sunday game day NFL the next morning i did it so what was that like at what point in that no hold on at what point during that trip where you're in the disguise like i'm going to pop to Vegas real quick here um did you know like this might not work like this this is i was really really good until

um hard rock blackjack table 500 dollar minimum i'll never forget it i sit down this guy just next to me sees me throw my id out to get ided and like scoped it on the way going into the dealer's hands from there it was like he doesn't even say anything to me he gets up and walks to all of his buddies over at like a roulette table and then from there it was like i know knew it too i can feel it by this point in time like years in like i can feel when something's like going awry and it was just like uh-oh it happened to be like a baseball reporter for MLB that sent this tweet out that was credible enough and i remember you know your first instinct is like i'm not there what are you talking about like it's the dog picture out the dog picture on the

Carpet, Cleveland, Ohio, Geotag. This is back in the early when Instagram, like, Geotag days. But needless to say, it was like it didn't work. Then I go to dinner, promoter puts this whole thing on like Las Vegas blast. And it's just, it's all downhill from there. It's funny in retrospect at the time. It's like, how did the coach say that's a legendary story? I was already, my head coach already wasn't, he wasn't vibing with me probably from the day that I walked in the building.

Um, earlier in that year, you know, I go, we have a bye week, go to Austin, stand in the lake with one of my boys. We come into town on a Saturday night, go out, come back, nothing crazy. I get back to Cleveland on Monday. A video comes out of us being out. I got bench from a Monday night football game just from being on my by week and going, uh, going out for a night. So, you know, the relationship was there, was already rocky and, you know, by the end of the season, it was kind of the point like you go into the meeting with the owner or the coach or whoever it is and kind of like how many different ways do you guys want to try this to where it's just like this isn't meant to be and this isn't working so you know when I look back at it you know deep down I think

I had this rooted just thing inside me that was like you don't want to be here how can I sabotage this in any way shape or form and I feel felt like at the time um that I was good enough to go somewhere else and be in the right situation where things would have just gelled right back together. And, you know, I don't think any of it was my play. I think, you know, the majority of it was the time you put in. It's a difference between going and knowing exactly what the defense is doing when they're in this certain coverage versus, you know, going out there and being blind. You know, I think how many different ways are we going to try this before we just find out that it doesn't work? And at the end of the day, you know, they ask me to do very simple things to keep me

on for a third year. And I'm just at the point where I'm like, no. It's very honest. I don't want to do this anymore. I don't want to come out and be the guy that says, you know, trade me. I don't want to be here anymore type of thing. You know, I had nothing to do with my teammates. Joe Hayden, certain guys on the team, Josh Gordon, like, I'll be friends with these guys forever.

I couldn't have, you know, couldn't love these guys anymore, but it was just the end of the day. Like, as far as my career and my position and what I'm doing, this is, you know, we're spinning our wheels in the mud a little bit. For sure. Yeah. Colton has a wig, but it's not because he's. he's trying to be anonymous. Because he needs it.

Right hair. It wouldn't be fair. Yeah. Oh, I almost slipped. All right, well, let's give us some. We do this with every guest. We got an emergency nine, nine fun questions, learn a little bit more about you.

We learned a lot about you actually already, though. I didn't know. All right, so we're going to go number one. Movie about the life of Johnny Mansell. Who plays it? I don't say, am I. Oh, all right. Did you have a pick for him?

I actually did. I was just trying to think of one. I got one. Who you got? Walberg. You got to have a dude that's You really love Mr. Football I think

Well I think that's a fair pick Looks wise probably be like Joseph Gordon Levitt Or something like that I like Andy Sandberg a little bit Sandler listen Andy Sandberg for you Happy Gilmore Happy Gilmore Greatest movie of all time

We'll go ahead and put that on record Wow Of all time There's no other way Maybe like Denzel I'm a young Denzel Gary Woodland already claimed him So he's booked for biographies

Fine give me Sandler That's my first choice All right that's fair That's a good pick All right, number two, what's the most you've ever played for on the golf course? Probably like a hundred grand. That's real. Where was that?

We do like more group things, right? So, you get five on five, ten on ten, whatever it is, and you kind of pull all of it together. But I go out to Midland every now and then and play against a nice group of dudes who, let's think golf is a little bit different out there. They hit these little worm burners that just run forever. And you look and they make birdie at the end of the hole. And you're kind of like, what the heck? What is this?

Midland Country Club. And they own every oil well in West Texas. They own every oil well you drive by. And they just like to have a good time. And it gets to the point kind of where it's just like let it ride. You know, at the end of the day, I doubt you can sweep me all the way through. I doubt I can sweep you all the way through. We'll meet somewhere in the middle and we'll figure it out.

I like it. All right. That's real. 100 racks. That'll do it. Number three. $5 will make it tickle. Let's go.

Like any dollar, any dollar. Now we're talking. I take $5 from you. I guarantee you I frame it put it into my game room. Well, you're down a little bit right now from Whisper Rock. Don't, don't worry about anything. Yeah. All right.

Number three, favorite and least favorite tattoo you have. You're my least favorite. I'm a favorite. Favorite tattoo. I like the dog bone the most. You know, my dog has been a rider through my side. second year in Cleveland. I've had him for five years, been through everything, took him everywhere, every trip, you know, Miami to Vegas to wherever it is, went everywhere, true soldier. So

favorite is probably the dog bone, least favorite. Well, I was married at one point. We'll leave it at that. Okay. Got it. That's self-explanatory. Got it. I did see an Instagram once of you getting a tattoo on a PJ, and I immediately thought to myself like, hey, dude, there's still turbulence on a PJ. Do you ever think of that? I touched it the mustache. Was that the mustache one? Okay.

I thought it was on the forearm, but I was like, a bump can happen still on a PJ, even though it's still way better than coach. I mean, I probably one of those things that I, like, saw on Instagram and thought was really cool and was like, oh, I need to go do that. I'll do that. I'll show them. I'm not, I'm not that original. Okay.

Respect. All right. That's very honest. All right. Number four, if you, your boys, as we discussed, your boys with Drake, if you could have Drake put the Drake curse on. any franchise, who do you want to put the curse on? He's known for making some teams slip into, you know, some L's.

Well, just to, you know, back the boy up a little bit. Raptors did take the championship. That's true. He's trying to. I don't know if it's a curse, but if I had to put a curse on one team, this is super easy. It's the University of Texas. I hope they never have another winning season for 1,000 seasons. God bless you.

Perfect. That's fair. Correct answer. I don't like the answer, but you know, it's your answer? It's a thousand points. Your opinion is your opinion. Yeah. Just like Brooke.

Yep. All right. Number five, you have to choose one of these. You play in the CFL for the next year, or you're Drew Stoltz's personal assistant for a year. Which one do you want to do? I got some things that need to be done, bro. Send me back to the CFL.

We were in the building. We were in the building at 9 a.m. We were back home by one. Like, it doesn't get any more children. I got a lot of shit that needs to be done. If I have to go look for his golf balls that he hits, like in the woods, like just on the side, that's bad enough.

He did just get fit from Truespeck. True spec though. Yeah, I got a new driver. You're going to be very pleased with what you see. The thing I will say about true spec, it's as solid as it gets. Like, come on now. Good shout out. Good shout out for the brand right now.

I mean, it's true. I watched a buddy of mine go in there, get fitted for a putter, comes back out the next couple of weeks. He's rolling the rock. Like, it's just this putter fits. I wouldn't have been for me, but, you know, it is what it is. I know what they're doing. Yeah, that shit matters.

It's crazy. I'm saying this because he probably had the worst putting week of ever seen in my life, but I definitely you agree with the technology. When he came back, he was right. When he came back, he was right. He went, he had this spider, we were all Team Taylor made around here in our group for the most part. He comes back, he's got

the Seymour, Roll in the Rock. True spec putter fitting. That's what I'm planning on happening to me. I can't wait to see. When I get my new gear, I'm going to be a new dude. I'm just trying to get some mirrors. You haven't ready for that big match we got against Johnny and... Oh, that's coming. The world will know. This thing has been put on hold and postponed. You keep dodging us. You keep going out

on boats and stuff. You keep going to LA and the Bahamas. My horse is ready. I'll put it that way. Your horse is a mini-hoy's a colt and I got a thoroughbred. Maybe we can get your location off Snapchat like Earl Thomas's wife. We'll track you down. Track you down. Don't

I'll share you my location. You can get to smoke anytime you want. No Earl Thomas thought. I love it. All right. Number six, you've been mentioning a lot of them But I need your favorite rap song where your name is brought up. Probably scheming up. Drake and Obie.

I mean, it's probably one of my favorites. It's the classic. It's a SoundCloud classic. I have better music on my SoundCloud than I do like Apple Music or anything that comes out now. Like I've since like the Carter 3, the old drought, Little Wayne days, like I've been like assembling like a nice old school like rap collection and that for some reason makes it in there. I love it. Yeah. That's going away.

But I thought it was... The draft day story, I mean, the draft day song, I mean, it blew me away. I remember him facetiming me in the middle of the night, like waking up, seeing any, he plays a song, I'm just like shocked. Couldn't believe, you know, meeting this guy off buying hoodies off a website, go to Toronto, become friends, you know, you look back a year down the road, the song comes out. It's just like, it's, you know, it's bizarre. It's not anything you can make up.

You could have a whole playlist, though, of songs with your name in it. Maybe it was going. Oh, we were hot for a while. Going real strong. Mr. Football was hot. You could have 12, 15 tracks easy on the playlist. I mean, I was getting tired of me at one point. Is that right?

I'll never know what that feels like. Let me just, let me just hide for a while. It's hard to believe, dude. All right, number seven, stop it, you two. All right. You got almost two million followers on Instagram. What's the most ridiculous DM you've ever received? Oh, hello.

Not Colt asking you to go. something else. Hey, dude, big fan. Hey, by the way. You want to tee it up. Hey, man. Hey, dude. I heard you move to Scottsdale.

I'm hoping we could hang. I got a number two jersey at my crib. I mean, this isn't even like, I don't even know if this is a question. This is like daily every single day. There's something in my DMs that'll like blow your mind that you wouldn't even like imagine. It's just, it's not that in a positive way. It's like most of the time guys being really, really weird. Like Instagram is a, I was disappointed.

Instagram is a funky place. I try and shy away. as much as I can these days. Yeah, you lay low right now. I respect that. All right, next question. NFL or college. I'm open up to that.

Dude, you were most scared of getting hit by. You might have already answered it. Probably clowny, like in college or something. That guy knocked that dude's head off in Michigan. Literally. The helmet goes like rolling. It's just like, kidding me? I'd rather sit in front of, you know, his Tahoe or whatever sitting out front and just smack me with it rather than that guy.

It was like the little giants where it's a refrigerator with a refrigerator with legs. It's a, yeah. What are he supposed to do? That's not as shocking. Yeah. There's a lot of dudes.

He was scary in college. You had these dreads like, I'm like a lie. I ran into Vantes Burford on, uh, in Old Town the other night. That's like another guy that I would not want to meet in the streets. He's scary.

He turned Antonio Brown and, I mean, he's got like the most suspensions in an NFL history. He had these dreads. He just, you look over you and drool. It's like, I'm crazy,

but that's a thing. Yeah, he's out for something else. He's nuts. All right. Last one. is a tough one. Who pays better? Direct Auto or Texas A&M

boosters? I'm going to give a big shout out to all my autograph dealers out there that I've dealt with since, you know, fun time. Perfect. That makes sense. The A&M, you know, love them to death. They've been, you know, definitely a source of income. But those autographed dudes, man, come on.

At the end of the day, people come up and walk up to you. want you to sign something i'm like yo i know you're selling this for 150 give me 40 let's cut it yeah that's unbelievable well we're not going to pay you to sign this wall when we're out here just so you know yeah you're going to sign that this is like a pleasure uh man say something one one nice thing about the NCAA quick uh they finally got it right and the fact they're going to pay players okay i mean they're finally coming around to the point where they know their structure is in dire need of change it's been this way for a long time right like There's certain players that transcend the game and transcend the media and marketing and everything it is.

Zion, for example, why shouldn't Zion be able to have $5 million sitting in his dorm room in college? He's not lit. He deserves it. I would have made more money my freshman and sophomore year. I would have stayed junior, senior year. I would have made more money in college than I would have ever thought about making in pro football. And it's just to the point where these schools, you know, are. making money off of it and they're finally getting to the point where you know hopefully the

likeness and all this you know it'll definitely change college football landscape for a long time probably basketball a little bit too but that that's the best thing I'll say is they're finally coming around to knowing that they're backed into a corner and they can't fight their way out of it anymore well it's not fun to see guys who are legit you know you get one shot you get one chance your life is one single role you get you get one shot to do things the right way. Maybe you get another one. Maybe you don't. Nevertheless, at the end of the day to watch a guy situation that played out in Memphis in basketball last year, number one guy coming out of high school, can't play, suspended the whole deal. It's like,

for what? For a company that just came out and was going to lose, you know, March Madness not happening this year, lost them $800 million. Where does that money go to? You know, what do they do with that? Does that come back and, you know, add to the guys who have boosted these TV ratings and deals and everything else it's like you can't be a nonprofit organization doing that making that much money you know acting like people are in the wrong because i'm come from a terrible situation and i need this x amount of money just to get by and survive it's fair it doesn't make sense so i think you know the nicest thing you say is they're coming around to getting in their own grave and direct auto needs to pay more direct auto's legit you know you're incredible been to nashville you

You wear that red suit again, dude. They're going to... Based in Nashville. The second they said they were based in Nashville, I'm like, when can I come for two days? Well, Johnny, man, this has been an absolute pleasure. We really appreciate you. No, I love. Appreciate it, guys.

Thanks for having me. I know I'm not the typical golfer you guys have sitting here, but I'm coming for you. You're the up and coming. Bring it, Johnny. I love it. Thanks for joining us on golf subpar. Thanks, fellas. Sleasy?

I mean, it's hard for me not to say that was not my favorite interview we've done so far. Yeah, I mean, it's cool. get guys outside of the world of golf, but to get a guy that's had as unique in experience as Johnny Man's, I mean, he may be one of one. I don't think there's anybody that's really gone through exactly what he went through and hearing him tell it firsthand. I mean, dude, when he's talking about after the Alabama game, he no longer was able to attend class at A&M. It's like too much of a zoo, too much of a circus. He was just bombarded by people. Like, how many college kids have ever had that same like, he was getting shuttled with cops to class. And then like, you know what? Just take all your

glasses online. It's too much of a distraction for the rest of the campus. Like, dude, that's crazy level stuff. I mean, Cliff Kingsbury told me he, this was his term, he goes, Johnny Mansell when he was at Texas A&M was like Bieber in his prime. Yeah, I believe it. He goes, it was insane. He goes, the guy walked on campus and the place freaked out. He goes, he had the world at his fingertips. And to, I mean, to compare him to Justin Bieber. I mean, that's pretty, top level. But very cool. I mean, I just, and it also worked out great considering this whole, the last dance right now, how Rodman had to get away. you know go to Vegas enjoy it our own Johnny Mansell had to get away had to go sneak away

threw on a wig a clip to Vegas nobody who am I hurting you know I mean just need to blow up a little steam but like I think it's so easy to come in with preconceived notions of Johnny right like you think you know him you see what you see on TV but I thought his interview today like he's so honest he didn't blame a single person for anything he took all the blame you know and I think it's easy to be like can't believe that kid can you believe what he did you know he partied his way out of the league or whatever like you tell me me if you're 20 years old and you got the world by the balls and infinite money and infinite fame i did some pretty dumb shit when i was 20 and i had nothing i had there was no eyeballs on

me i had no money no fame i got to imagine if i had what he had and everybody else did you might do some stupid stuff too and i totally agree with you on that and i hate when people come at these young kids and they're like i can't believe he'd act like that he's so lucky he's all this i'm like first off that kid had no idea what was going on in his life he came from a small town in Texas, who where he was a good football player, but no one knew who he was. After one game, the whole world knew who he was. I mean, he's getting shouted out in rap songs and things like that. You tell me as a 20 year old how you would handle that. There's no class on how to handle this stuff. There's no, like, here's the, here's the playbook to handling massive fame as a 20 year old.

You just do it and you go as it comes and it got to be pretty hard when some of that stuff's being floated in front of you to say no to it. Like I would never try to judge a dude that's had like the success and the fame that he's had because like very few people on planet earth ever get to that level. He is he is one of the most criticized people I've ever come across in sports and you and I took him out to Whisper Rock a few weeks ago and played golf with him and I and I tell everyone I was like this kid is so misunderstood yes he is so polite he is so nice to everyone I mean anyone that was a member came up introduced himself to Johnny a couple people took pictures he couldn't have been nicer I mean I respect the kid a lot I couldn't thank him enough for

taking the time to come join us and and just how open and honesty was. Yeah, I hope he changed like a lot of minds for people that listen to that right there just about how he is. First time we played golf them, I would like misogreen chip up and here he is holding my putter in my other wedge, like handing it to me. You know what I mean? Like just stuff you wouldn't expect from, you know, a celebrity or somebody that, you know, people think, you know, not from someone who asked you to call them Mr. Football. Right. That's, that's understandable. Understandable. But dude, we've gotten to know him a good bit over the last few weeks or whatever. I got nothing but

great things to say about. He's been awesome. Every single person I've seen him interact. That was by far one of my most fun interviews we've done. But next week, we're going back to golf and a man who was the favorite at the Scottsdale Open and favorites in our heart. Yes. Mr. Joel Damon is going to be joining us. One of the best interviews in golf. Funny dude, candid dude, doesn't really hold any punches. It's going to be another fun one next week.

We dig into a little bit of his history on the jickeys and how he came to be the Joel Damon. Everybody knows right now. And also a little sung Kang talk, obviously. Well, as you had to. But if you don't know who Joel Damon is, you're going to. to after next week's episode. Stay tuned for more golf subpar.