Week 1 of the college football season officially kicks off on Thursday with four games involving ranked teams.
But perhaps the most highly anticipated game of the week at College Station, between No. 20 Texas A&M and No. 7 Notre Dame, will feature a familiar face in the lead-up to the matchup.
ESPN’s College GameDay will be at College Station in anticipation of the game. And so will perhaps the biggest name in the history of the Aggies’ program, as Johnny Manziel has been announced as the guest picker for the Week 1 edition of the traveling pregame show.
“What’s up, guys? Johnny Manziel here,” said Manziel in a video shared on College GameDay’s official X account. “As you guys know, college football season is right around the corner. And with that, GameDay is coming to College Station, Texas. And I’m very excited to announce that I will be the celebrity guest picker on Saturday at nine Eastern time. Aggie Land, we need you guys loud and crazy, as we have Notre Dame coming to town. Really looking forward to it. Checking something off the bucket list this week. Can’t wait, Gig ‘Em.”
We are fired up to have @JManziel2 as our Week 1 guest picker in College Station‼️ pic.twitter.com/BO2NmlHnga
— College GameDay (@CollegeGameDay) August 29, 2024
Quite frankly, it’s a bit of a shock that Manziel has not been the guest picker on College Gameday before, as the show has been back to College Station on two separate occasions since Manziel has been out of both college and the NFL.
However, Manziel has been quite candid about some of the issues in his life, which were well documented in the latest edition of Netflix’s Untold docuseries, Johnny Football.
During that time, Manziel spent quite a bit of time outside of the limelight. But now, Manziel is back in the public eye with his new role at the Action Network on the Big Bets on Campus podcast.
Given Manziel’s popularity in the college football world, and especially to Texas A&M fans who remember his time with the program, he should certainly get a big pop from the home crowd on Saturday.
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.