Johnny Manziel’s day is short, start to finish, as Texas A&M rolls

COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Johnny Manziel’s day began late because of the NCAA and ended early because of his mouth.

In between he looked like Johnny Football at his best.

After serving his first-half suspension, the Heisman Trophy winner threw three touchdown passes, scrambled for 19 yards and, well, acted up while No. 7 Texas A&M rolled over Rice, 52-31, on Saturday.

Manziel was sitting out because of what the school called an “inadvertent� violation of NCAA rules involving signing autographs.

His first touchdown came on a 23-yard pass to Mike Evans on A&M’s second drive of the half. But just before that, Manziel got into it with a Rice defender, appearing to mimic signing an autograph while getting up from a tackle.

Coach Kevin Sumlin said he didn’t see that exchange, but would have “done something about it� if he did.

Manziel ended his day by getting yanked following an unsportsmanlike-conduct penalty for pointing at the scoreboard after a scoring pass in the fourth quarter.

“A foolish penalty at the end,� Sumlin said. “No matter what the comments are or what. He’s going to face that every week with the people chirping. That’s not OK, and obviously I addressed that on the sideline right after the play. That’s something he’s going to have to deal with every week.�

Manziel, who was replaced by starter Matt Joeckel on A&M’s last drive, wasn’t made available to the media after the game.

He did address his teammates Friday night and discussed, according to Sumlin, the “mistakes he’s made.� The meeting was a condition for reinstatement.

“Maybe actions you think just hurt you end up hurting the whole football team,� Sumlin said. “That was the real gist of his message to the team.�

Manziel had been investigated for allegedly accepting money for autographs from memorabilia brokers, a violation of NCAA rules that could have led to a much longer suspension.