Johnny Manziel could potentially return to Arena Football League for one more season

It’s been a decade since Johnny Manziel stepped to the NFL Draft stage and celebrated being a first-round pick. Flash forward to now. The relaunched Arena Football League is trying to entice the former Heisman winner to play for one of its teams.

This is according to TMZ.com, which quoted new AFL commissioner Lee Hutton III. Hutton said he wants to talk to several players to give the relaunch a little air.

“Absolutely,” Hutton told TMZ. “Some of them have received personal [messages] from me. I reached out to Johnny Manziel. So, Johnny, I’m a Texas guy. So, if you’re ready to come back and indoors — because you did very well — we will take you. We will find a spot for you.”

Hutton grew up in Galveston, on the Texas coast.

Johnny Manziel kicked around many football leagues

Manziel, of course, is the native Texan who dazzled for Texas A&M in 2012 and 2013. But his football downfall since he left College Station is well documented. He went from the Cleveland Browns to a lengthy negotiation with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the CFL. He headed back to Texas to compete in the Spring League, then went back to Canada. And he did a stint in the now-defunct Alliance of American Football League. His final landing spot was in Fan Controlled Football, which featured a seven-on-seven format.

The Arena League begins next month, with 16 teams scattered across the country.

“We love our football in this country,” Hutton told TMZ. “How do we fulfill that appetite of football during [the offseason]? So we designed a very short, compact season, 10 weeks, which will start literally right after [the NFL draft].”

Former Aggie QB still maintaining ties to A&M

Meanwhile, Johnny Manziel still maintains close ties with Texas A&M. On Friday, he was in Memphis at the FedEx Forum to cheer on the Aggies men’s basketball team as they opened the NCAA tournament against Nebraska. Cameras showed Manziel in the arena. He is familiar with Memphis since he briefly played there in the AAF. Back in College Station, Manziel opened Money Bar last fall, with its debut coinciding with the Aggies home game against Alabama.

Manziel is 31 now. It is doubtful he is in football shape. But maybe the Arena League can lure him back for another season, although the teams are in smaller markets and, by definition, are far away from the limelight.