The 30 Minute Man

By Dip Donnelly (@NoahAtTheArk)

If you are one of the many college football fans that have been waiting to hear what punishment, if any, would be handed down to Johnny Manziel for allegedly receiving payment for putting his signature on a photo. The wait is over!

The NCAA and Texas A&M have come to an agreement in which Johnny Football will miss the first 30 minutes of the season.  That’s right, one half of a football game... against football "powerhouse," Rice. 

No matter what you think of the NCAA or Johnny you have to admit that is the weirdest thing I have ever heard of. 

Johhny’s summer has been mired in controversy.  He has been seen flashing cash in casinos, driving in a sweet Mercedes, waking up late for football camp after a night of drinking.  What would you really expect from a star college athlete that won the Heisman Trophy in his first year of eligibility?  Over the years, the NCAA has sanctioned many kids that acted in this manner, mostly because they were out spending other people’s money.  Not the case with little Johnny. Johnny Manziel’s family is rolling in the dough.  The Mercedes was not a gift from booster... it is his Mercedes. 

The NCAA was handcuffed in their investigation into whether or not Johnny deposited money into his parents account after being paid for signing photographs.  There is no way rich folks are handing over their bank statements, and the NCAA wouldn’t dare to ask.  If this was a poor African-American kid acting like this, the NCAA would look into the bank accounts of everyone in the projects that the kid came from.  Johnny got away with the rules violation because he is wealthy.  So the NCAA had to do something.  They gave him a 30 minute suspension!

The next time an African-American player from Miami or Ohio State gets caught getting a free tattoo; I hope we all remember what happened here today on the 50th anniversary of Dr. King's speech at the Lincoln Memorial.  We have not come that far, and it is embarrassing.