Johnny Manziel will not be allowed to play in the Canadian Football League at any point during the 2017 season.
The decision was announced by the CFL Wednesday afternoon, and the statement from the league reads:
After an extensive process of due diligence and an in-person meeting with Mr. Manziel, the Commissioner has decided that he will not register any contract for Mr. Manziel for this season. However, 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. The CFL has extended the stay on the expiry of the 10-day window for Mr. Manziel until Nov. 30, 2017 and therefore Mr. Manziel will remain on Hamilton’s negotiation list until that date.
The Texas A&M Heisman winner also released a statement after the news broke Wednesday. He stated the following, according to NBC Sports:
I recently had a really positive meeting with Commissioner Ambrosie and welcomed the chance for us to get to know each other and have an in-depth talk about a possible future with the CFL. I love this game and want to be back on the field in a situation where I can help a franchise in the long term. Over the past months, my agent helped me vet all of my options for playing, figuring out where I could be most effective and get back to having the most fun with the game I love. I’m ready to play today, but we all agreed with the Commissioner that it made no sense for me to join a team with only a month left in the season — it wouldn’t have been fair to my teammates, coaches or the fan base. I want to come into a team and earn my job day one, like everyone else. I look forward to preparing myself as best I can and look forward to what the future holds.
Well, this is not a great look for my guy Johnny Football. The guy went from being the most electric player in all of football to now not being allowed to even sign in Canada. He dominated the college football news cycle with highlights that shouldn’t even have been humanly possible, and now we’re sitting here wondering if he’ll ever play again.
I was sold on the Manziel comeback. I wanted it so badly. The content would have been incredible. I guess we’ll have to wait at least a year until we get to spin this cycle up again.