‘Johnny Football’ back in Cleveland at sports convention

CLEVELAND (WJW) – “Johnny Football,” the former Cleveland Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel, returned to Cleveland on Thursday as one of numerous sports and entertainment celebrities attending the National Sports Collectors Convention.

The show, billed as the largest of its kind in the world, attracted thousands on Thursday. Many of them were here to meet and get photographs and autographs from the likes of Jim Kelly, Cal Rypken Jr., Doug Flutie, Mike Singletary and Johnny Manziel.

Among those anxious to meet the former Browns Quarterback was Bill Moultrie, who traveled from Jacksonville, Florida to Cleveland for the show.

When asked how it felt being back in Cleveland, Manziel told Moultrie, “it feels good.”

“It was cool, you can tell he’s a laid back guy,” said Moultrie “But yeah, it was a cool experience.”

The show gives visitors a chance to buy, sell and trade collectors cards.

It also gives visitors the chance to see some interesting and rare memorabilia and sports artifacts, including a check signed by Elvis Presley, a pair of ruby slippers used in shooting the movie ‘The Wizard of Oz’ and a New York Yankees jersey worn by Babe Ruth during the 1932 World Series.

Hundreds of the visitors are here in Cleveland from across the country on five-day passes.

Organizers calculate there are 10,000 rooms being booked around the area by visitors.

That is in addition to the rooms that have been booked by some 600 exhibitors who started arriving and setting up for the show weeks in advance.

While here, many of them and their families are also taking in area restaurants and attractions.

“That’s part of the fun, you know, you hang out with your buddies after the show, hotels you are doing some deals… going out for dinner having some drinks,” said Jim Childres of Reno, Nevada.

“We had folks on the ground here for about two weeks putting this together, so what you are seeing here today is the product of two weeks worth of labor in addition to all of the year’s worth of planning of bringing this show back to Cleveland,” said Scott McGorty, the IX Center’s director of sales and marketing

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