It’s been close to four years since former Texas A&M Aggies football star Johnny Manziel walked away from football. Presently, he is busy reinventing himself as a media voice and mentor. Manziel has worked hard to earn respect. Yet recently, a woman from College Station allegedly tried to tarnish his image, which pushed Manziel to take legal action.

“Johnny Manziel sues College Station woman for defamation,” reported Senior Texas A&M Sportswriter for KBTXSports, Travis L. Brown. 

According to the reports, Manziel is now seeking damages, charging the woman for defamation and tortious interference with business relationships. February 27 marked a turning point in this case. Judge Jerrell Wise handed Johnny Manziel a significant legal win, granting an expansive emergency Temporary Restraining Order. The order restricts the defendant from contacting or even speaking publicly about him.

On February 27, Manziel filed the suit in Brazos County district court against the woman, named MaKenzie Carter, also known as MaKenzie Calame. According to the accusations brought forward by the former quarterback, Carter allegedly was spreading fabricated stories with Manziel in them across social media platforms.

Manziel also brought a charge against Carter, emailing the quarterback’s friends, family, and even business associates, claiming that they were in a romantic relationship. The former quarterback is fighting his case, claiming it to be a fictitious story. 

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“We’re saddened that we had to go down this route,” Manziel’s lawyer, Aron Hutchins, said in a KBTX interview. “It was just the only option we had left and it was unavoidable to protect Johnny and his friends and family and business associates and all that from continued messages all the time.”

Carter reportedly did not stop in posting “hours’ worth of baseless, unrelated, and entirely fabricated stories” around various social media platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook. She allegedly went a step further, warning Manziel’s acquaintances that legal action would follow if they “continued” to interfere in what she claimed was her relationship with him.

Already, all this legal hoopla led one of Manziel’s business partners to put a business deal on hold. Meanwhile, an email purportedly from Carter landed in KBTX’s inbox earlier this month. In it, she cautioned the station against airing any stories about her, including alleged AI-altered media, or repeating what she called a “fabricated ‘stalker’ narrative” linking her to Manziel. Ironically, KBTX had not published a single report about her prior to the message.

Defamation disputes have become an all-too-familiar story in college football. Last year, former Texas Longhorns football wideout Isaiah Bond filed a federal lawsuit accusing a woman of making false and coercive s- – – – – assault allegations against him. But the lawsuit did not move forward and was eventually dismissed.

For Manziel, the legal hoopla comes at a time when he has the spotlight on him for the right reasons. 

Johnny Manziel’s journey from legal battle to being a mentor

A decade ago, in 2016, Manziel faced serious allegations after being accused of hitting and threatening his then-girlfriend, Colleen Crowley, during a night out in January. The misdemeanor charge carried the possibility of up to a year behind bars and a $4,000 fine. Ultimately, however, Manziel struck a deal with prosecutors that led to a conditional dismissal of the case.

Over the years, Manziel worked to earn back the respect. He started his own podcast, “Glory Daze,” which is produced and distributed by Almost Friday Media. In 2024, he also cracked the role as a college football analyst on the Big Bets on Campus podcast.  

Meanwhile, while living in Nashville, he had developed a strong bond with former Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia. Now that Pavia is ready to take his talents to the pros, Manziel serves as his mentor. 

“He’s giving me some good advice, for sure,” Pavia said. “He always reaches out, too, checks up on me to make sure I’m good.” 

Manziel’s college run at Texas A&M Aggies football, ended with a Heisman Trophy. This inturn boosted his stocks, and he was a first-round pick of the Cleveland Browns. Now, he will have to come out clean of the defamation case, to let the world remember him for his good deeds.