He wanted him, but he wasn't intercepted before he could put in the ticket, especially since the ticket was in New York and he was in Dallas. The story gets further and further from the truth with time. There never was a ticket with Manziel's name on it. Just like how the story of Stephen pushing Jerry up against a wall that night to stop him keeps getting repeated despite how no one watching the war room's live feed (which never cut out while we were on the clock up to the selection) that night saw anything close to that happening.
https://www.si.com/nfl/cowboys/news...ones-dallas-cowboys-and-almost-johnny-manziel
"But again, to the actual facts from the people involved:
*There are no "draft cards'' in the Valley Ranch war room where Jerry and Stephen oversaw the selection process along with McClay and then-coach Jason Garrett. There are computers, notepads and magnetized name tags. There are no "draft cards.''
*The "draft card'' was actually in New York, where each of the 32 teams had representatives who carry their card with their selected player's name on it up to the commissioner for him to announce. The Cowboys' rep is Blackwell. There is no way for Blackwell to "be handed a card'' by Jerry as they were sitting 1,600 miles apart from one another.
*There was no Jones-vs.-Jones wrestling match. By virtue of our live coverage on the draft on the official station of the Cowboys, 105.3 The Fan, I was able to watch the WarRoomCam at times even when the telecast is not being shared with ESPN and NFL Network.
I watched - along with colleagues Bryan Broaddus, Shan Shariff and others - as Jerry and Stephen and staff talked through the process of the No. 16 pick. There seemed to be some disappointment over Shazier going off the board at 15, to Pittsburgh."
