Netflix released a trailer for the newest batch of episodes for their sports docuseries, Untold. The show has been running for a few years now. In their limited run, they’ve had some really great episodes. They had an episode about a mobster who bought his son a pro hockey team. There was one about cheating refs in the NBA. Most recently, they featured a two-part series about Manti Te’o falling for the worst cat fish of all time. As if Netflix’s version of 30 for 30 hadn’t already proved itself, they just announced their best subject yet. This is none other than Johnny Manziel.
None of Untold’s previous subjects come close to matching Manziel’s combination of a party boy lifestyle with his athletic success. I was eleven when his cultural relevance was peaking. His improvisational style of play at Texas A&M was the most interesting thing happening in sports at the time. Meanwhile, he was filling the early days of social media with clips like this one. Basically, the guy was the most fun thing to happen to sports.
Despite being somewhat of a nuisance to the national media, Manziel really only ever harmed himself. Jameis Winston stole seafood from a grocery store for fun. Manziel did shots of fireball and tried to find someone to give an autograph to. Sure, he killed his career. But now we get the full story with Manziel’s own thoughts on the situation. I wasn’t as excited about the Eagles playing in the Super Bowl, or about seeing female nipples for the first time as I am about this documentary being released.
From the trailer of this new season of Untold, Johnny Manziel does not appear to be mincing his words for the camera. In one clip, he mentioned having $100,000 under his bed when he was nineteen. Instead of trying to show his growth and the utter lack of responsibility in his youth, he describes it as awesome. Which it is. Manziel is ready to give us a backstage pass to the lifestyle that prevented him from reaching his goals. This is going to be The Godfather for drunk sports fans.
The rest of this season lacks either the star power, or the story that Manziel offers. Jake Paul is getting an episode about his boxing career. Considering his boxing career isn’t old enough to stop ordering from the kid’s menu, I can’t imagine this is going to be any good. The creators won’t have enough to say about his fighting career to stop themselves from using an “It’s Everyday Bro” clip (I’m so confident in this prediction). The other two are a story about a famous steroid dealer, and a four-part miniseries about the 2005 Florida football team.
So tune to Netflix on August 8. Where else can you watch never before seen footage of Johnny Manziel doing lines off of his coach’s playsheet, hopefully.
