College GameDay Announces Special Guest Picker For Texas A&M vs. Notre Dame

Texas A&M Aggies legend Johnny Manziel will be the guest picker on College GameDay on Saturday.
Sep 27, 2014; Arlington, TX, USA; Texas A&M Aggies former quarterback Johnny Manziel is presented his Aggie ring during a ceremony at halftime against the Arkansas Razorbacks at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 27, 2014; Arlington, TX, USA; Texas A&M Aggies former quarterback Johnny Manziel is presented his Aggie ring during a ceremony at halftime against the Arkansas Razorbacks at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports / Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports
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Earlier this spring, ESPN's College GameDay revealed it would kick off the college football season with a visit to College Station on Aug. 31.

Now, they have announced their guest picker for the show, and it is someone who should help make for quite the spectacle - Aggies legend and former Heisman winner, Johnny Manziel.

Manzie
Dec 31, 2013; Atlanta, GA, USA; Texas A&M Aggies quarterback Johnny Manziel (2) reacts to a fourth-quarter interception against the Duke Blue Devils in the 2013 Chick-fil-A Bowl at the Georgia Dome. Mandatory Credit: Daniel Shirey-USA TODAY Sports / Daniel Shirey-USA TODAY Sports

"As you guys know, college football season is right around the corner, and with that GameDay is coming to College Station, Texas, and I am very excited to announce that I will be the celebrity guest picker on Saturday," Manziel said on College GameDay's X account. "Aggieland we need to you guys loud and crazy as we have Notre Dame coming to town. Really looking forward to it. Checking something off the bucket list this week. Can't wait. Gig 'Em!"

Manziel had an incredibly memorable career with the Aggies, leading Texas A&M to an 11-2 record while throwing for 3,706 yards and 26 touchdowns, and rushing for 1,410 yards and 21 scores during his freshman season in 2012. That season, he won the Heisman, Davey O'Brien, Manning, and AP Player of the Year awards, while also being named a consensus All-American.

In 2013 he completed 69.9 percent of his passes for 4,114 yards and 37 touchdowns with 13 interceptions and rushed for 759 yards and nine scores on the ground.

The Aggies and Irish kick off at 6:30 p.m. CT and will complete a triple-header of action that day that will begin with Clemson vs. Georgia from Atlanta at 11 a.m. CT with the Miami vs. Florida contest sandwiched in between at 2:30 p.m. CT.

The feature game of ESPN's triple header that day will help usher in the new Mike Elko era for the Aggies, who fired former coach Jimbo Fisher last November on the heels of a disappointing stay in College Station.

And Elko is excited to get going.

"Go out there every day and outwork Notre Dame," Elko said this week. "We'll go out and be really fired up for what should be an electric Saturday night at Kyle Field. ... It's finally here."


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Matt Galatzan
MATT GALATZAN

Matt Galatzan is the Managing Editor and Publisher of Texas Longhorns On SI and Texas A&M Aggies On SI and a long-time member of the Football Writer’s Association of America. He graduated from the University of Mississippi, where he studied integrated marketing communications, with minors in journalism and business administration. Galatzan started in the sports journalism industry in 2014 covering the Dallas Mavericks and SMU Mustangs with 247Sports. He then moved to Sports Illustrated's Fan Nation network in 2020, eventually being taking over as the Managing Editor and Publisher of the Longhorns and Aggies sites a year later. You can find Galatzan on all major social media channels, including Twitter on @MattGalatzan.