Quarterback Johnny Manziel joins former Hawaii coach June Jones in CFL
THE CANADIAN PRESS VIA AP
Former NFL quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel held a team jersey with Hamilton Tiger-Cats head coach June Jones after announcing that he has signed a two-year contract to play for the CFL team at a press conference in Hamilton, Ontario, today.
Quarterback Johnny Manziel will try to resurrect his football career — and reputation — under former Hawaii head coach June Jones.
Manziel signed with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League. Jones is Hamilton’s head coach.
“We’ve been working on it for a long time and finally got it done,” Jones told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. The Tiger-Cats held the CFL’s negotiating rights to Manziel.
The Cleveland Browns selected Manziel with the 22nd overall pick in the 2014 NFL Draft. But following several off-field issues, Manziel’s NFL stint ended in 2015. In the past year, according to published reports,Manziel told national media he has been receiving treatment for bipolar disorder. He recently married.
Jones told the Star-Advertiser that Manziel’s signing is “good for him and good for us.”
The Tiger-Cats employ a spread offense that has similar concepts to the schemes Texas A&M used during Manziel’s Heisman-winning season.
“I think he’ll flourish in what we do,” Jones said. “Our system is kind of what we ran before he went to the NFL. He’ ll have a chance to excel, that’s for sure.”
The Tiger-Cats opened training camp on Friday with Jeremiah Masoli, a Saint Louis School graduate, as the No. 1 quarterback. Bryant Moniz, who started three seasons for the Rainbow Warriors, Vernon Adams and Dane Evans are the other quarterbacks on the roster. Jones said the initial plan is to keep three quarterbacks on the active roster at the start of the season.
Jones said Manziel is “going to have to beat out Jeremiah. Jeremiah is pretty good. He’s a lot better than people give him credit for. But, yeah, you can never have too many good quarterbacks.”
