Living It Up

Johnny Manziel's wild party pics make waves, but Heisman winner insists he'sstill a small-town guy

TMZ published photos of Johnny Manziel partying with a bottle of Dom Pérignon ata Dallas nightclub Avenu Lounge.

Johnny Manziel/Twitter
After posting this on Instagram, Manziel tweeted, "Nothing illegal about being18+ in a casino and winning money...KEEP HATING!"

Johnny Manziel/Twitter

To say that Johnny Manziel has had an impressive year would be an understatement. Beginning the 2012 season — Texas A&M University's first in the SEC — as a redshirt freshman, the 20-year-old quarterback quickly earned the nickname "Johnny Football," led the Aggies to an upset of No. 1 Alabama and a Cotton Bowl romp over Oklahoma, and became the first freshman to win the Heisman Trophy.

After a hard-fought season, you'd think that the guy deserves to have a drink without drawing scrutiny.

"It's tough knowing that everything you do is watched pretty closely, because I'm doing the same stuff I've always done," Manziel told reporters.

But on Sunday, TMZ published photos snapped of Manziel post-OU win, a Burberry scarf around his neck, a sparkler in one hand and a bottle of Dom Pérignon in the other. As the gossip rag writes, "Manziel hit up Avenu Lounge in Dallas and as you can see in the pics ... he rather enjoyed himself."

"It's tough knowing that everything you do is watched pretty closely, because I'm doing the same stuff I've always done. It's just now people actually care what I do," Manziel told reporters on Sunday.

Among the things that people have cared about include fraternizing with scantily clad coeds at a Halloween party, scoring courtside seats to a Dallas Mavericks game and winning big at a casino.

"I'm still the same small-town guy I've always been," said Manziel, who grew up in Kerrville. "For people to recognize me everywhere I go now and how much notoriety comes along with this, it's been beyond my wildest imagination."

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On the move

Dallas Wings to play home games at American Airlines Center next season

Photo by Richard Rodriguez/Getty Images

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The Dallas Wings will make their anticipated full-time move to downtown Dallas next season, when they will play all of their home games in the same arena as the NBA's Mavericks, the American Airlines Center.

Wings officials announced the move Monday, August 3, though playing their full home schedule at the 20,000-seat American Airlines Center is expected to be a temporary situation.

The WNBA franchise in 2024 signed a 15-year use agreement with the city of Dallas to play in a renovated Dallas Memorial Auditorium with about 10,000 seats. There have been delays in construction at that facility that is only a few blocks from the AAC.

“Today’s announcement marks a pivotal step in the team’s relocation to Dallas as well as our continued growth as a professional sports enterprise,” Dallas Wings CEO and managing partner Greg Bibb said.

The team next April is also scheduled to move into a new $55 million training facility that is under construction in Far West Oak Cliff.

Since moving to North Texas before the 2016 season, the Wings have played home games and practiced at College Park Center on the University of Texas at Arlington campus. That facility, with a capacity of 6,251 seats, is about 20 miles from downtown Dallas.

The Wings played two regular-season games at AAC in 2025. They beat the Chicago Sky in a game there last month, and have two more home games scheduled there this season.

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On the move

Dallas Wings to play home games at American Airlines Center next season