Another big college football story has at least a small tie to Johnny Manziel, who's quietly biding his time as the Cleveland Browns' rookie backup quarterback.
Thursday, Georgia running back Todd Gurley was suspended by the school pending an investigation into alleged violations of NCAA rules. Gurley, one of the country's top players and a potential Heisman Trophy candidate, is alleged to have received unauthorized benefits for the use of his autograph or likeness.
Viewed as an antiquated rule by some, it's also the one that brought extra spotlight -- and a brief suspension -- to Manziel after he won the 2012 Heisman Trophy.
Gurley's suspension seemingly brought Manziel's longtime friend and associate Nate Fitch to Twitter, where he drudged up some old feelings regarding the NCAA's policies.
"Hey @slmandel," Fitch wrote in a tweet to FOX Sports college football writer Stewart Mandel, "tell the people to let the man make money off his name. Screw anyone that says he shouldn't and can't."
Hey @slmandel tell the people to let the man make money off his name. Screw anyone that says he shouldn't and can't.
— Nate Fitch (@UNCLENATEFITCH) October 9, 2014
He also tweeted to the NCAA account, saying "I hope no one cooperates with you thugs."
Hey @NCAA screw you. I hope Todd has good people around him that have his back. I hope nobody cooperates with you thugs.
— Nate Fitch (@UNCLENATEFITCH) October 9, 2014
Manziel ended up being suspended for the first half of Texas A&M's first game of 2013 for what the school called an "inadvertent" violation of NCAA rules.
An ESPN report into the investigation cited sources that alleged Fitch, who's from Manziel's hometown of Kerrville, Texas, helped operate an autograph business for the former Texas A&M star.
When Manziel officially turned pro, he signed with LRMR, the Cleveland-based marketing agency backed by LeBron James and his longtime friend and business manager, Maverick Carter. Many of Manziel's endorsement deals have been handled by Carter.
It's unknown what his current association is with Fitch, who's usually busy on Twitter posting pictures of big houses and big watches and auctioned off a watch Manziel gave him last summer. Fitch's family owns a company that filed for trademark rights to the phrase "The House That Johnny Built" last spring when a Texas A&M official proposed that the school name its stadium for Manziel.
