Former Oregon recruit and current Texas A&M starting quarterback Johnny Manziel burst into the national spotlight this past Saturday when he and the Aggies bested top-ranked Alabama. Manziel, dubbed “Johnny Football” by TAMU fans and now people across the country, completed 24 of 31 passes for 253 and 2 touchdowns in a 29-24 win over the Tide. The freshman also showed he can use his feet rushing for 92 yards on 18 attempts.
His outstanding performance — one of many this year including 557 total yards in a win over Arkansas — boosted him into the Heisman conversation and turned Johnny Football into a national buzzword.
According to ESPN’s Darren Rovell, Manziel’s family is working with TAMU officials to trademark the name “Johnny Football.” NCAA regulations prevent Manziel and the university from making a profit off the name, but the school is held accountable in making sure no else profits from it either.
While Manziel’s family takes on the process of filing for a trademark, TAMU and Adidas are profiting from increased jersey sales in light of Manziel’s recent success. The No. 2 Aggies jersey only hit the shelves of the TAMU bookstore last Friday and is reportedly seeing high sales along with TAMU’s usual numbers 1 and 12 available every year.
Despite the recently started trademark battle over the rights to the name, Johnny Football shirts have been showing up all over the place.
If Manziel had committed to Oregon, we might not be seeing so many Mariota and “Black Momba” shirts and maybe a few Johnny Football tees in the mix.