Tag: Hamilton Tiger-Cats

Johnny Manziel Released, Barred from Playing in CFL for Violating His Contract. Sigh.

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ESPN – The Montreal Alouettes released quarterback Johnny Manziel on Wednesday, saying he “contravened the agreement which made him eligible to play” in the Canadian Football League. The CFL said Manziel is not eligible to sign with another team in the league, which had his full rights for two seasons.

“We are disappointed by this turn of events. Johnny was provided a great deal of support by our organization, in collaboration with the CFL, but he has been unable to abide by the terms of his agreement,” Alouettes general manager Kavis Reed said in a statement. “We worked with the league and presented alternatives to Johnny, who was unwilling to proceed.”

It is unclear what Manziel did to violate the agreement with the Alouettes and the CFL.

Manziel, 26, played for the Alouettes last season in an attempt to resurrect his career. In eight games, he completed 106 passes in 165 attempts for 1,290 yards, with five touchdowns and seven interceptions. Montreal traded two players and two first-round picks to Hamilton last July for Manziel’s rights.

Next stop XFL? I don’t know what Johnny may have done here, but it’s probably not a great sign that a guy with a long and checkered past filled with drinking and drug problems randomly gets cut on a Wednesday afternoon.

Manziel has not played well in the CFL either, which was disappointing with the lesser competition he was facing north of the border, but he did suffer a concussion early on last season so that couldn’t have helped. Normally I would say this is probably the end of the line for a player, but as luck would have it not one but TWO new football leagues have recently sprung up as options.

It might be a little late in the season for a quarterback to jump into the AAF seeing as its already Week 3 of a 10 game season, but hey bums like Christian Hackenberg are getting benched as we speak so  you never know.

However…the XFL begins play in 2020. You know Vince McMahon loves a star and the bad boy persona of Johnny Football could be the perfect poster child for the XFL’s inaugural season. With just under a year until XFL play begins it would give Manziel a full offseason to get in shape, learn the playbook and ingratiate himself with a new team. All of which is a moot point if he is dealing with some bigger life problems. Who knows, but the guy was so fun to watch at A&M, I hope he gets his life back on track, even if it’s XFL or bust at this point.

Johnny Manziel Currently Dominating in the CFL. Now How Do I Pirate (Stream) Canadian Football Games?

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Yahoo – Start with this when it comes to Johnny Manziel and his attempted return from self-induced football career disaster – the former Heisman Trophy winner has said all he wants is a chance to play, and faced with no NFL opportunities, he’s grabbing one. In Canada, no less. Manziel, 25, announced Saturday morning that he has signed a two-year contract with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League. Conceivably, he could suit up for a preseason game against Toronto as soon as June 1.

Johnny Manziel is playing football again! And playing well at that might I add. Listen, I’ve gone back and forth on Johnny and whether I thought he’d play again, that time I thought he was a lock to join the Patriots, and then of course that time I boycotted the CFL when they blackballed Manziel. But we’re back baby!

It took me a minute to find the stats for Manizel’s first game because if I asked you right now, where do you go for CFL stats? What’s your go to source? Its not exactly on the back page of the sports section or in my ESPN push notifications.

I ultimately used my brain and just went to the Hamilton Tiger Cats website where I was swiftly and sharply reminded that this is Canada.

If I had just written that joke out you would have ridiculed my wit and said it was too predictable. Welp, thats literally the first thing I saw on this Canadian Football League website, god bless em those hosers love their Tim Hortons.

Say what you will about Johnny Football, but his game was created in a Canadian lab somewhere in the mountains of Alberta. (Does Alberta have mountains?) The wider fields, the larger endzones, the unlimited motion on offense; this is like college football on coke.  Anyways, on to the stats because as we all know stats don’t lie. And my dude Johnny Manziel is LIGHTING. IT. UP.

Can’t say I necessarily understand the vaunted three quarterback attack, but in his first CFL game Manziel had an 81% completion percentage going 9/11. Thats a pretty good start after only throwing footballs in the illustrious Spring League and at Texas A&M Pro Days. I have full confidence that Manziel will be wrecking that league in no time at all.

But the real question is; how do I pirate legally stream CFL games? I feel like thats some shit you’re going to need an old school black box from your dad’s shady buddy. So if anyone finds that stream deep down the Reddit rabbit hole tweet me @the300sboston to hook it up. Otherwise, we might have to expense a road trip on The 300s non-existent credit card to Tim Hortons Field in Hamilton, Canada in the name of content.

I think Johnny Manziel needs a new nickname though if he’s going to truly follow in the footsteps of another diminutive American QB and run shit in the CFL.

My vote goes to Johnny Maple. Bookmark this blog so when somebody with a little more venture capital steals it and makes a billion dollar t-shirt out of it, I want my royalties.

 

 

Johnny Manziel Has Been Cleared to Play Football!! Has My Long Standing Boycott of the CFL Come to an End?

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NFL.com – Johnny Manziel’s return to professional football is close to getting a green light from north of the border. Canadian Football League Commissioner Randy Ambrosie announced Thursday the league is prepared to approve a contract for Manziel to play for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats if he continues to meet certain conditions tied to his eligibility. The Tiger-Cats own Manziel’s CFL rights.

Everybody, REMAIN CALM. JOHNNY MANZIEL HAS BEEN CLEARED TO PLAY FOOTBALL. I said back in September that I would be boycotting the CFL after Johnny Manziel was barred from signing a contract with the Hamilton TigerCats. I even mocked up this very appropriate quote from “Blow” in my rage.

I vowed that I would not watch a single CFL snap until one Johnny Football was allowed the opportunity to dominate that 110 yards long 65 yards wide Canadian Football field. It seems like that day is near.

We’ve been close to this before though and I’ve written about Johnny Manziel comeback rumors ad nauseam so I’ll believe it when I see him on the field tossing TDs against the Toronto Argonauts.

The NFL is probably a long shot for Johnny these days, which is a shame since he was *electric* at Texas A&M. His only shot at making a comeback is to DOMINATE in the Canadian Football League a la Doug Flutie and Warren Moon. Even if he doesn’t win 5 Grey Cups like the #1 Rated CFL Player of All-Time in Doug Flutie…

…he will still be fun as all hell to watch. I need Money Manziel back in my life and the CFL is legit built for him to thrive. CFL fields are just under 12 yards *wider* than NFL fields so that will make it that much more difficult for linebackers to chase him down, stack the box, or QB spy him. The wider fields give him tons of room to scramble around and make things happen with his feet.

And ya know, maybe take less massive hits from gigantic linebackers. Manziel is listed as 6’0″ 209 lbs on Google, which is like me claiming to be 6’2″ on my driver’s license. A bold faced lie. So a little extra room to scramble around will do Johnny good. Although, maybe he is 209 these days.

Thicc Money Manziel.

So while I don’t exactly know if the CFL Sunday Ticket is a package thats available on DirecTV in Boston, you can bet your ass I will illegally stream pay to watch any and every Johnny Manziel game I can find.

I am Officially Boycotting the CFL for Barring Johnny Manziel

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Bleacher Report – The CFL announced Wednesday that it has barred quarterback Johnny Manziel from signing a contract to play in the league during the 2017 season. While Johnny Football won’t be permitted to play north of the border in 2017, the CFL left the door open for him to join the league in 2018 provided he “meets certain conditions.” Manziel is on the Hamilton Tiger-Cats’ negotiation list, and the CFL announced earlier this month it had extended the team’s 10-day window to sign him so the league could independently evaluate him, per ESPN.com’s Kevin Seifert.By pushing the window back again to Nov. 30, Hamilton will have a chance to negotiate a contract with Manziel for 2018 following the conclusion of the 2017 campaign.

This is some straight up BULLSHIT. The CFL basically told Johnny sorry, try again next year, all while imposing a double secret probation.

No, seriously, they did that.

“Mr. Manziel will be eligible to sign a contract for the 2018 season and, if Mr. Manziel meets certain conditions that have been spelled out by the Commissioner, the CFL will register that contract. The specifics of those conditions are confidential and will not be disclosed.”

I bet even Josh Gordon read that and said, wow Johnny you’re really getting fucked here. So it is with much sadness that I must boycott the Canadian Football League until my boy Johnny Manziel is given the opportunity to tear up that goofy ass extra wide field with uprights in the endzone. #FreeJohnnyFootball

 

Johnny Manziel May Be Close to Signing With a Football Team

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Yahoo – Johnny Manziel has officially told the Hamilton Tiger-Cats to squat or get out of the litter box. David William Naylor of TSN reports that Manziel has activated the 10-day window that compels the CFL team that holds Manziel’s negotiating rights to make him a contract offer. The move forces the hand of a franchise that has been slow-playing its flirtation with Manziel in the aftermath of the failed effort to hire Art Briles. Naylor says the Tiger-Cats must sign, trade, or release Manziel within the next 10 days.

LETS GO. Get Johnny Football back in my life. I don’t care if I have to (legally) stream CFL games from some undisclosed bunker, I need Money Manziel back in my life. #FreeJohnny

It seems like Manziel may be back on the (wider) football field sooner than later. I still don’t fully grasp the goofy CFL contract rules because I know random teams still “hold” the rights of guys like Vince Young, Tim Tebow and other NFL flameouts. So thanks to this David Naylor guy for clearing that up for me. Looks like Johnny might have to play on the cheap though if the TiCats try and low ball him

As PFT understands it, however, the Tigers-Cats are required simply to make Manziel a “fair offer,” not sign him. If so, it makes the move a calculated risk for Manziel; the Tiger-Cats may choose to simply serve up a lowball offer, forcing Manziel to either take it or to continue to not play.

Do it Johnny, just play ball, get out there and dominate the CFL and win a few Grey Cups. It worked for Doug Flutie and it can work for you.

Its pretty much Manziel’s only shot of playing football again, ya know, unless the USFL makes a comeback.

Plus I would 10/10 buy a Johnny Manziel Hamilton Tiger-Cats jersey because I am a child. So its a win-win situation really.

CFL Team Hires and Fires Dirtbag Ex-Baylor Coach Art Briles in Less Than 24 Hours

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SB Nation – “On Monday morning, the CFL’s Hamilton Tiger-Cats announced the hiring of former Houston and Baylor head coach Art Briles, who was fired in May 2016 amid the Bears’ program-wide sexual assault scandal, as an offensive assistant. But Briles won’t join Hamilton after all, according to the league. Its statement on Monday night: “Art Briles will no longer be joining the Hamilton Tiger-Cats as a coach. We came to this decision this evening following a lengthy discussion between the league and the Hamilton organization. We wish Mr. Briles all the best in his future endeavours.”

I gotta say, I was more than a little surprised when I saw that ex-Baylor coach Art Briles had gotten hired by a CFL team as their offensive coordinator. Granted its the CFL, but this guy wouldn’t be able to get a job managing a Denny’s, let alone another football team.

For anyone that forgets all the details of the Art Briles era at Baylor, here are the sparknotes: this guy basically emboldened scumbags up and down the Baylor roster and intimidated college women from coming forward about sexual assault at the hands of his players. Baylor had one arrest after the other, most of which were for violent crimes. There were legitimate gang rape allegations against Briles team. Sports Illustrated had the below breakdown of utter scumbag entitlement Briles promoted while at Baylor.

“The details of what happened at Baylor under Briles are sickening. At least 52 acts of rape committed by 31 different players between 2011 and ’14, including five gang rapes, according to a lawsuit filed earlier this year by a former Baylor student. Multiple instances of Briles and his staff either ignoring or covering up reports of assault and interfering with police investigations. Players not disciplined while victims were encouraged to keep quiet or leave the university. A blind eye toward accepting players with a history of violence toward women.”

So how the fuck anyone would let this guy oversee even the equipment room for a football team is beyond me.

Well, its apparently beyond the Hamilton Tiger-Cats as well who figured 15 months was enough time passed for a Briles hiring to not be controversial. They guessed wrong. The internet had a field day with this once it caught wind of the hiring. Not even 24 hours later the CFL team came out and said just kidding we’re not going to hire Art Briles.

Art Briles’ new coaching job?