Manziel to NFL? ‘Johnny’s gone,’ says teammate

Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel smiles during the second half of the Chick-fil-A Bowl NCAA college football game against Duke on Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2013, in Atlanta. Texas A&M won 52-48. AP Photo/Dave Martin)

Johnny Manziel -- the 2012 Heisman Trophy winner and star Texas A&M quarterback -- will forgo his final two years of college eligibility and enter the National Football League’s 2014 draft, according to a teammate.

According to The Houston Chronicle, Ricky Seals-Jones, a Texas A&M wide receiver, said “Johnny’s gone,” in an impromptu remark made Friday night that represents the first public account from an A&M insider of Manziel’s plans. “He’s gone.”

The paper writes Seals-Jones made the prediction during an off-the-cuff interview given at basketball game at his old high school.

The wideout reportedly dropped by the broadcast booth for a Sealy High School contest -- the school is located in Sealy, Texas --  and was asked by an announcer about Texas A&M’s quarterback rotation for the still-far-off 2014 campaign.

The Texas A&M Aggies just concluded their 2013 season on Dec. 31 with a 52-48 win over Duke University in the Chick-fil-A-Bowl in Atlanta – a game in which Manziel passed for 382 yards at four touchdowns.

When Seals-Jones failed to include Manziel in his response, the savvy announcer quickly retorted, “Do we have a scoop? Did I just hear Johnny Manziel not being mentioned for next year?” That’s when The Chronicle reports a bemused Seals-Jones rendered the prediction concerning Manziel’s intentions for the NFL.

Many have long thought Manziel, nicknamed “Johnny Football,” was headed to the pros – and especially after a 2013 imbroglio concerning allegations he’d received payment for autographs briefly threatened his NCAA eligibility.

But Seals-Jones’ Friday remarks reportedly are the first from either Manziel -- or anyone connected to the A&M program -- about whether the football phenom would bypass his final two years of college eligibility.