NEO High School Football Week 8: St. Ignatius loses, Mayfield upset
October 19, 2015Canton vying to place NFL Draft in Hall of Fame Village
October 19, 2015Cleveland Browns backup quarterback Johnny Manziel had managed to stay out of harsh spectrum of the public spotlight in 2015. Even when Josh McCown was injured, Manziel simply stepped in to help the Browns win before retreating back into the shadows as the backup quarterback. He and McCown have repeatedly said the correct things to the media about supporting each other and McCown mentoring Manziel. In a town where football gossip often runs rampant, it was as refreshing as a warm cup of apple cider from Mapleside Farms on a cool autumn day.
Heck, celebrity tabloid rags attempted to uncover the dirty secrets of Manziel, but the best they could come up with was that some of his teammates would prefer he started instead of Josh McCown. Since entering and completing a rehabilitation stint in the offseason, there have not been incidents or photographs or even third-hand rumors of Manziel drinking, partying, or otherwise being the man that used to mockingly rub his fingers together while going by the moniker of Johnny Football.
That is, until Friday.1
WEWS NewsChannel 5 first reported Manziel was pulled over and admitted to police he had been drinking. During the course of a domestic argument on Monday in Avon, Manziel used the shoulder to pass a vehicle, which prompted the passee to notify the police. After stopping somewhere later on Nagel Road to argue with his girlfriend Colleen Crowley, a second witness called the police, and Manziel’s car was pulled over soon thereafter. Manziel admitted to drinking, but police determined he was not intoxicated enough to be charged. Crowley did not want to press any charges, either.
In most circumstances, an adult professional athlete driving erratically and arguing with his girlfriend after having had a couple of drinks would not be cause for great alarm. Certainly, no one would like to hear it, but most people are numb to such news as it has become quite commonplace in today’s society.
However, Johnny Manziel is an athlete who has had issues in the past. He has told us that Johnny Football is gone. He has repeatedly been able to conjure up the exact correct words to say to the media to seem contrite, understanding of his faults, and wanton of change. Then, circumstances would prove out he had not changed.
I want to believe last Monday was an outlier in the 10-month journey Manziel has reportedly been undertaking. I want to forgive him for what could easily be a misconstrued situation. I want to believe all of the good things Joe Thomas, Karlos Dansby, and other leaders of the Cleveland Browns organization have been stating to the media about a new and improved Johnny Manziel. And, I want to believe the Cleveland Browns strangely extending their third-string quarterback says nothing of their confidence in the second-string player.
But, I am having difficulties. Perhaps, the worst possibility often being true over the years about rumors with LeCharles Bentley, Kellen Winslow, and Josh Gordon is skewing my vision. Perhaps, there is much more to the story than first appears on the surface. And, perhaps, Manziel is continuing to grind, away from public sight to make himself into a quarterback worthy of starting for the Cleveland Browns for years to come.
For now, it is merely another disconcerting turn in the short career for Manziel.
- Note: the incident happened last Monday, but was first reported early Friday evening. [↩]
35 Comments
I never believed that Johnny Manziel was an addict/alcoholic, He’s a kid. When I was his age, I drank a ton in college and once I got out of school I didn’t stop drinking completely. It never really affected my work, i believe I called in hung over once. But now that I’m an adult, I rarely drink at all. Drinking a ton when I was that age didn’t make me an alcoholic, With the amount of money and attention he gets I can see where he looks like he has a problem. All of his other bad decisions didn’t help the perception.
The rehab seemed like a PR move to me. They were trying to save the Johnny Brand.
However – If he hit his girlfriend then I have no problem cutting him loose. Bye!
In most circumstances, an adult professional athlete driving erratically and arguing with his girlfriend after having had a couple of drinks would not be cause for great alarm.
Really mike? Haha
By all reports:
(1) Manziel was not intoxicated.
(2) Did not harm his girlfriend (she was attempting to jump out of a moving vehicle, he was keeping her inside).
So, yeah. Again, there’s a follow-up sentence to it, but I’ll admit I’d have been pretty numb to it had a different athlete had done it.
I am a man in my mid-30s who has never tasted alcohol, but I have a lot of friends and family who enjoy alcohol. Some of those people have had problems with it. It’s very sad and they have been deserving of a lot of empathy and support.
I feel the same way about Manziel. He obviously has a problem of some sort and set-backs are sad, but expected. I’m worried his set-back placed people in danger of physical harm.
He badly needs support and understanding right now. Any football questions about him will have to wait for a while. I really hope he can get proper help.
We are missing the real story here – what person is driving so slowly on the I-90 that Manziel was forced to use the shoulder to pass? Moreover, what kind of person then calls the police to report someone that passed them because they were the one impeding the flow of traffic? LAME! DOUBLE LAME! I shun thee, slow highway driver. SHUN!
At this point it’s not just about where he is as a person and player, but whether he can stop being a distraction to the team. When he claimed a few months ago to be mortified by that maybe he was just parroting to the media what veterans said to him in that Sincere Johnny way of his.
Let’s say the “only 2 drinks” cliche was true. Why is he racing at crazy dangerous speeds on the highway median while fighting with his girlfriend, driving crazy enough that two witnesses call the police from separate locations – how does that ever end well? If he was sober enough to know what he was doing, if this wasn’t a sitch where a cop fan decided to cut him a break, then the best you can say is that, even at a crucial point in mid-season, Johnny’s focus is Johnny. Whatever.
To play devil’s advocate: “Why is he racing at crazy dangers speeds on the highway median while fighting with his girlfriend?”
I think that question could answer itself.
Yeah, even the benefit of the doubt isn’t great here.
i’ve been that same guy. behind the wheel after a couple of drinks, arguing with my girlfriend on the highway. I’ve had her try to jump out of my car, too. I was a real jackass when i was 23, and I wasn’t Johnny Football.
I give this kid the benefit because it’s uncharted territory for most human beings to be where he is at. Many of his friends are either still in college or have moved on to their own lives. He moved to a place where he didn’t know anyone he could trust; where he was expected to be a savior that maybe he could never be.
To say he has handled it poorly is the understatement of the year, but I’m not giving up on the kid. And not just because he has talent, but because he’s just too darn young and inexperienced to really understand his role in life.
“The years teach much which the days never know.”
–Emerson
It was an Amish guy in a buggy. “Shun” all you want – it’s what they do!! (and i’m not worried that I’ll offend any Amish, since none of them are allowed to admit to reading this!!)
Oh, I jest…
Has it even been proven that he was in rehab for alcohol? It may have, but I’ve just never actually seen the proof. I still like my theory that he was in rehab for cocaine.
No, it hasn’t.
From the perspective of Johnny being the long-term answer at QB, I don’t really care anymore. It’s hard to see a scenario where someone at his size with his abilities could be a consistent top-10 quarterback (including staying healthy). And I say that because no QB at his size has done it since… Jeff Garcia with the 49ers maybe? I won’t include Drew Brees because he never had as slight of a frame as Johnny. With his off-the-field problems, I think there are too many hurdles for him to climb. I’ll enjoy him in the brief spurts where he does some cool stuff, but I refuse to count on him long term.
Lot of NARCs in Avon, apparently.
Based on her party pics she posted while he was in rehab, I don’t think he’s getting too much support from her in his new life of sobriety(ish).
I agree I am not often surprised by the ill behaviors of athletes. Smh sometimes, but don’t expect a lot from them. If this girl is that nuts, he needs to cut bait asap
I agree with a lot of what you say. That said, he wasn’t drunk at this time. Also – only a fraction (5-10%) of people with substance abuse issues are sober or attempting to get sober. You’re daily much more likely to get drilled by somebody who hasn’t bottomed out yet.
I agree that while there are young people who do some experimenting/binging, it doesn’t mean they have deep issues, however I’ve seen a lot of young people with sobriety issues. He elected to stay 90 days+ in a facility. Anybody looking for PR gets out of those places in a few weeks.
If???
Hmm. Well, being with her is Johnny’s choice. I’ve never been in rehab but I’m sure the decision of who you hang out with is considered relevant to a lifestyle change.
I was thinking the same thing when I’d heard she was pretty much the first person he went to after getting out of rehab. Not a good influence, I think. But, thinking with the wrong head…and all that.
I’ve been in the same position. It’s more fun to snark him, but these things are not rare for young immature men in their early twenties who are dating equally immature women in their early twenties.
Manziel’s “problem” is that he makes a lot of money and as a part of that social contract, he can’t wear his butt for a hat the way you and I did.
unlike you, however, I don’t think he has the talent. I gave up on Manziel the franchise QB before he was drafted but especially during the bengals game.
I will give Manziel the human being a number of additional chances.
But who else does he have? This is his “bae.” I’m not even being sarcastic here. Any dude who’s fallen for the party girl (or multiple party girls) is familiar with this trap. There will be a breaking point, and this may be it, but the dual scion song of fun and hot has lured many a man to his doom.
That’s why if he’s serious about changing, he has to make sure she’s on board, or she gets the heave ho.
It’s all about the support system.
I’m not a big Cris Carter fan, but he goes on and on about this every chance he gets. He loves to talk about his sobriety.
If I hadn’t already given comment of the day to RBG, you’d win it for this!
What good old CC doesn’t like to talk about is all the screw ups before the one that finally led to his sobriety. It takes a lot of broken eggs before you make a sobriety omelette. Maybe this is the last egg. But probably not.
Right now it seems Johnny doesn’t have an alcohol problem. Unfortunately the media has tried and continues to try to turn this into something it clearly is not.
He drank some alcohol but wasn’t intoxicated- there is no way they would have let him drive away if he was or even if he was close he could have at least gotten a roadside sobriety test. He didn’t even get that. Even with his rehab, there is nothing anywhere that says he can’t have a beer or two with dinner.
After listening to the dash cam audio of his lady friend I’d say Johnny showed an amazing amount of restraint by not just dropping her drunk behind on the roadside and just going home. Maybe he should have taken her straight to the airport and sent her back to Texas for good.
MMM…warm apple cider from Mapleside Farms. I miss home in the fall.
https://media3.giphy.com/media/AVilYmB74xhK/200_s.gif
As for Manziel, the fact is we cannot trust him. Trust must be earned, and he continues to do things that make doing so just about impossible. I hope since his return that Farmer has been on the phone to Frisco, TX to see what, if any, deal might be possible.
Bode you left out Manziel throwing a bottle at an over-zealous fan.
Mmmm…nobody down here knows what wassail is. :/
Who could have ever seen a mess around Manziel? Oh that’s right, this guy!
He is a complete and utter screwup and is not worth wasting time over. Get what you absolutely can out of him (i.e. use as a backup-caliber QB this season) then cut him and address QB depth this off-season.
JFF is the epitome of an individual that probably all of us have somewhere in our lives/past/circle of acquaintances. Constantly having issues, getting into trouble, always reaching for some sort of fix (finding Jesus, rehab, etc etc etc).
This sort of person will always be a loser. He will always be in trouble somehow. And you just cannot rely upon him for anything other than to persistently fail to successfully exist in the world.
might as well kill him and save the world a headache imo
If you like short QB’s, check out Vernon Adams, 5’11”, at Oregon. He should be available in the 3rd round in next years draft. He is as accurate and mature as Marcus Mariota. He was injured and didn’t play much in the games they lost this year. He is healthy now. Check out last weekends victory over Washington. Adams transferred to Oregon from Eastern Washington where he set school and division records including at least two 50 points plus games against PAC-12 tea,ms. He is operating the same system Mariota ran with similar skill.
Johnny Manziel is not the franchise QB for Cleveland.
Not taking sides here, but CC has talked about all his issues prior to sobriety.