TUSCALOOSA, Ala (WIAT) – Two Dimes is hosting Johnny Manziel and professional MMA fighter Colby Covington for the Alabama and Vanderbilt game.
“They contacted us to come here and have a great time, and party after the game,” Two Dimes Owner Tyler Hearing said. “Unfortunately for Johnny, it’s going to be a loss for his team.”
Johnny Manziel, the former Cleveland Browns QB and Heisman Winner, once gave Bama fans a run for their money during a match-up against the Aggies in T-Town.
On Saturday, “Johnny Football” returns.
“It’s a little bit of mix feelings because he beat us in 2012,” UA student Luke Close said.
Manziel arrives in Tuscaloosa on Thursday and is ready to see his quarterback protégé do what Vandy did last year, and what he did decades ago – beat Bama.
“We honestly had no idea exactly to what extent Johnny and his relationship with Vandy’s quarterback was,” Hearing said.
Last week, when Manziel’s team reached out to the newly opened live music venue located on The Strip, Two Dime’s owners were ready to share the good news – Johnny Football is coming.
“No matter what you do, when you run a business, someone is going to say something negative,” Hearing said.
Shortly after the music venue announced their special guest, the negative comments came one right after another.
“I had so many texts and phone calls today from friends, media and students wanting us to cancel Johnny Manziel’s appearance at Two Dimes,” Owner Ric Mayers posted to Facebook.
“I know there’s a lot of controversy around him, but he’s also a person,” UA student Anthony Bryzgalski said.
Getting the chance to see Manziel and the Tide beat Vandy all in one day is something Bryzgalski believes is a what college football Saturdays are all about.
“For people in the best college town to get to party with him and watch two of the best S.E.C teams battle it out, I think it’s going to be great.”
While Manziel’s scheduled appearance at Two Dimes is receiving mixed reviews, Close is more worried about where Johnny Football will be during the game.
“I don’t know how I feel about him being on the sidelines for Vanderbilt, I’m a little nervous about that, that it’s bad juju,” Close said.
“I get the football rivalry, but I’ve never been into it, so I’ll probably give him a pass if I saw him in Two Dimes,” UA Student Stella Logue said.
Manziel’s black and gold Diego Pavia jersey is not a deal breaker for some die hard Bama fans. For the owners of Two Dimes, neither is the trash talk that comes along with it.
“What do you expect, Alabama was a major competition of Manziel’s,” Mayers said. “You don’t go to war with Alabama and walk away being its biggest fan.”
Two Dimes hosting the former S.E.C quarterback was meant to give football fans one more thing to get pumped up for this Saturday.
“We’re going to continue to have a lot of big-name guests coming into town,” Myers said.
Two Dimes is also hosting Coby Covington this weekend. The UFC Welterweight Champion is joining the owners and Johnny Football for Tide vs. The Commodores. But Covington is coming with his crimson and white.
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