Johnny Manziel

[Rich]

As I said in February, it wouldn't surprise me if Larry Tannenbaum was strongly "encouraging" Popp to sign Johnny Football. Larry knows that people love big names in this town, and I'd bet he believes that signing a big name like Manziel would put the Argonauts on the map.

But I agree with Angelo, it would only make sense if he signed a 3-year contract, this year plus a commitment for 2 more. Johnny could spend the rest of this season learning the ropes watching Ricky play and take over for the start of next season, while Tannenbaum watches ticket sales go through the roof.

[AngeloV]

As I said in February, it wouldn't surprise me if Larry Tannenbaum was strongly "encouraging" Popp to sign Johnny Football. Larry knows that people love big names in this town, and I'd bet he believes that signing a big name like Manziel would put the Argonauts on the map.

But I agree with Angelo, it would only make sense if he signed a 3-year contract, this year plus a commitment for 2 more. Johnny could spend the rest of this season learning the ropes watching Ricky play and take over for the start of next season, while Tannenbaum watches ticket sales go through the roof.

This is where I disagree. I don't think signing Manziel would result in a major spike in ticket sales. A minor one, yes, but not a major one.

[Argo]

This is where I disagree. I don't think signing Manziel would result in a major spike in ticket sales. A minor one, yes, but not a major one.

Two questions:

Can he make the throws a QB needs to make in the CFL?
Character: is there any evidence whatsoever of quality in this fellow?

[Rich]

This is where I disagree. I don't think signing Manziel would result in a major spike in ticket sales. A minor one, yes, but not a major one.

I was being a little facetious about the sales going through the roof, but there are good reasons to believe Manziel would spike sales a lot more than Ricky Williams did.

First, there's a bunch of casual sports fans who are curious about the Argos BMO "experience", in particular the tailgating, but casual fans don't want to buy tickets for a losing team. These people need some kind of on-field reason to buy Argos tickets, and, in the absence of a big winning season, Johnny would certainly provide that. By way of comparison, literally nobody was curious about the Argos Skydome "experience" in 2006.

Secondly, Ricky Williams was entering the last third of his career when he came here. Everybody knew what he could do on the field and what to expect. On the other hand, nobody has seen Johnny play pro very much, and there's a huge pent-up demand across the continent -- which includes Toronto -- to see more of what this guy can do on the field.

Furthermore, I would argue that Johnny Football is a more famous celebrity today than Ricky Williams was in 06. Manziel is a huge Twitter celeb, and Twitter was just getting off the ground back then.