Manziel ‘happy’ with first taste of CFL
MONTREAL Johnny Manziel says he’s content with his life in the CFL after completing his first season.
The former Heisman Trophywinning quarterback, who began the season on the bench with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, finished the year with eight starts for the Montreal Alouettes and a greater appreciation for the game north of the border.
“I’m happy here right now,” Manziel said. “Football probably got to a point in the past for me where it was about money and I’m comfortable right now. I’m comfortable with a great group of teammates, I’m comfortable in a
great city like Montreal. I’m happy being back on the field and I don’t know if that would be the situation in another league.”
Manziel signed with Hamilton after a tempestuous and shortlived NFL career. But the 25-yearold saw zero regular-season action with the Tiger-Cats before being dealt to Montreal on July 22.
He missed time with a concussion and lost six straight starts with the Als — he didn’t throw his first TD pass until Sept. 30 in a home loss to the Saskatchewan Roughriders — and secured his first win on Oct. 28 in a 40-10 rout of the visiting Toronto Argonauts.
Manziel said he started feeling more comfortable with the CFL style as the season went on.
“It’s comfort all the way around,” he said. “When I really feel comfortable with what I’m doing and what the scheme is and concepts that I’ve ran a million times before, you see a big difference in those plays and plays that are new to me that are more CFL-based concepts.
“The more I got reps with those plays the more I felt better with the whole entirety of the playbook.”
Manziel made his final start of the season for Montreal on Saturday — a 30-28 win in Hamilton — completing four of five passes for
59 yards before giving way to Antonio Pipkin in the second quarter.
The 25-year-old finished the year with 106 completions in 165 attempts and threw 1,290 yards with five touchdowns and seven interceptions.
He is under contract for one more season with the Als.