Texas A&M QB Marcel Reed Gets Roasted for Gifting Lionel Messi a Signed Aggies Jersey
Lionel Messi probably has no idea who Marcel Reed is. That did not stop the Texas A and M quarterback from giving him a signed jersey.
After Argentina’s 2-0 friendly win over Honduras at Kyle Field on Saturday, Reed presented Messi with a maroon Aggies No. 10 jersey signed with the message, “To Leo, Gig ‘Em!”
The internet was not kind.
The roasting was immediate. Fans pointed out that Messi has won more trophies than Reed has career starts, that he probably had no clue who the senior Aggie quarterback was, and that handing a global icon a signed college jersey is a vibe somewhere between confident and confused. The clip went viral inside hours.
Here is the thing, though. It was actually kind of sweet.
Reed wears No. 10 for Texas A and M. Messi has worn No. 10 his entire career. The symbolic handoff between the two No. 10s on the same field is the kind of thing you can poke fun at all day, but it is also the kind of memory Reed is going to keep for the rest of his life. He met Messi. He stood on the same field as Messi. He gave Messi a jersey at his college’s stadium. Most college athletes never get a moment like that.
The 90,000-plus fans at Kyle Field on Saturday came for Messi, not for Reed. Nobody is pretending otherwise. But the QB getting the photo op is what college football is all about. You take the moment when it shows up.
The criticism is overblown. Yes, it is a little awkward to hand a signed jersey to someone who probably can’t pick you out of a lineup. Yes, the optics make it look like Reed is putting himself on Messi’s level, which he isn’t. The mocking on social media is loud.
But Reed has bigger problems to worry about. Texas A and M is coming off another middling SEC campaign and needs Reed to take a real step forward in 2026. If he plays like a star this fall, nobody will remember the Messi jersey moment.
If he doesn’t, this clip will follow him around. That is just how social media works.
For now, the Aggies QB has a story he can tell forever. The roast is the price of admission.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
