Johnny Manziel Sparks Confusion by Missing College GameDay Appearance at Texas A&M Ahead of Playoff Game Against Miami Hurricanes

Johnny Manziel, the former Heisman-winning quarterback, recently left fans scratching their heads after skipping his scheduled appearance on ESPN’s College GameDay.

The announcement had promised that Manziel would be the guest picker for Texas A&M ahead of their playoff clash against the Miami Hurricanes in College Station on December 21.

But just minutes before the broadcast, host Rece Davis revealed that Alex Caruso, a former Texas A&M basketball star and two-time NBA champion, would step in instead.

The sudden switch left viewers wondering why Manziel was absent, especially after he’d been seen in Miami the night before at Jake Paul’s boxing match against Anthony Joshua.

Social Media Theories Explode

Predictably, fans took to social media to speculate.

Some suggested that old struggles with alcohol might have resurfaced.

Others hinted at tension between Manziel and ESPN, or even with co-host Pat McAfee.

Manziel later posted an explanation, claiming he was ill, but the statement quickly took a surprising turn—it doubled as a promotion for the prediction-market platform Kalshi.

Manziel Turns Absence Into Promotion

On December 30, Manziel tweeted a statement on X (formerly Twitter), opening with: “FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE.”

He assured fans he was “good with ESPN” and “good with McAfee,” before pivoting to plug Kalshi:

“If you want to keep guessing, you can now do it officially.

Thanks to Kalshi, you can trade on whether I’ll be back on College GameDay in 2026

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The market currently gives me a 34% chance of being back on set next season.

If you think that number’s low, take the other side.”

The tweet had an immediate impact: the odds jumped from 34% to over 50%. But not all fans were impressed.

Many mocked the plug, calling it “the most Johnny Manziel thing I’ve ever read” and joking about losing college funds if such bets existed during his playing days.

What Are Prediction Markets Anyway?

For those unfamiliar, Kalshi and similar platforms like Polymarket are essentially futuristic alternatives to sportsbooks.

Users can trade on all sorts of events—sports, politics, even the next Pope—with odds fluctuating like traditional betting lines.

Unlike sportsbooks, which are heavily regulated by states, these platforms operate as “exchanges” under federal oversight by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

During the 2024 U.S. presidential race, Kalshi and its competitors gained attention for accurately forecasting Donald Trump’s victory over Kamala Harris based on user trades.

Since then, the platforms have faced legal challenges in some states for taking hundreds of millions of dollars in bets, including on March Madness and the Masters.

Why It Matters

The distinction between sportsbooks and prediction markets isn’t just technical.

By classifying themselves as exchanges, these platforms avoid state-level restrictions and taxes, effectively creating a legal loophole for large-scale event wagering.

Critics, like Nevada state senator Dina Titus, argue this is a “backdoor way” to legalize sports gambling without proper safeguards.

Johnny Manziel, Betting, and the Spotlight

For Manziel, his absence from College GameDay may have been a small moment, but he managed to turn it into a talking point—both for himself and for Kalshi.

Fans are left debating the odds, wondering about his next appearance, and shaking their heads at the classic Manziel unpredictability.

Whether this episode will boost Kalshi’s popularity or just generate more memes, it has cemented yet another quirky chapter in Manziel’s post-football life.