A note from Dave Roberts’ biggest fan
November 24, 2015Don’t blame Mike Pettine for benching Johnny Manziel. Blame Johnny.
November 24, 2015Ever watch someone pull the rug out from under their own feet? On Tuesday morning, Cleveland Browns head coach Mike Pettine told the local media he was digging into Johnny Manziel’s reported extracurricular activities over the bye week and he would have more to explain to them on Wednesday. Well, apparently, he had enough time to dig into specifics and discuss the second-year quarterback with the rest of the organization as the Cleveland Browns announced Josh McCown will be the starter on Monday night against the Baltimore Ravens. Manziel, in turn, will be the third-string emergency quarterback as Austin Davis received an unexpected promotion as well.1
Through a press release, Coach Pettine noted he informed the quarterbacks of the decision after he had a meeting with Manziel, offensive co-ordinator John DeFilippo, and quarterback coach Kevin O’Connell after practice. Owner Jimmy Haslam and general manager Ray Farmer were also informed of the decision and they reportedly support it fully.
“Everyone in this organization wants what is best for Johnny just like we do for every player in our locker room. I’m especially disappointed in his actions and behavior because he has been working very hard.” Pettine noted as he addressed the media. “The improvements from last year to this year have been tremendous but he still has to consistently demonstrate that he has gained a good understanding of what it takes to be successful at the quarterback position on this level. It goes well beyond the field. We are going to continue to support him in every way possible, but at this point, we’ve decided it’s best to go with Josh as the starter going forward.”
Heading into the bye week, Manziel told local media that he had intended on spending most of his time in Berea preparing for the Ravens, but a two-day stint in Austin—which was allegedly caught on video—was all the Browns staff needed to make the call. McCown, in turn, will start against the only team in which he has recorded a win in 2015 when he went 36-for-51 for 457 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions in the 33-30 overtime victory2.
As for Manziel, the team has yet to state if he has any more of his nine lives attributed to his off field behavior or what it might take in order for him to get back in the good graces of the coaching staff. Regardless, Coach Pettine made a firm move to signal exactly who is in charge of the gameday rosters and he expects professionalism to extend beyond the walls of the Berea offices.
- Sort of like that contract extension. [↩]
- McCown also had a rushing touchdown [↩]
141 Comments
That’s a “message” being sent from Pettine.
who?
worked for Amy Winehouse.
Don’t mess with the bull son!
don’t mess with the bull son for Wilson? But who is Wilson?
Johnny’s career is on the same trajectory!
If you keep this up I won’t invite you to the “Johnny Manziel Whinery” I’m starting!
The Johnny backers are the most curious bunch. Manziel was in rehab, REHAB> I’m not an addiction expert nor claim to be, but 10 weeks in rehab followed by X months of backwards-hatting it up at bars does not seem like the straightest line to pro football stardom. Manziel has proven zippo in this league and he’s on arguably the worst franchise in sports. These things don’t exist in a vacuum. You want fans to love you, put in the work and stay off Vine.
Otherwise, eff off from the league and make paid appearances at Club D-Bag on W.6th. I don’t doubt JF with his status could make a lucrative career as a professional party hopper. Not even kidding.
Nice touch 🙂
He was dealing with issues far beyond alcohol in rehab. Most assuredly, the drinking is not a great thing for him, but the real question is whether he is relapsing into the other habits/behaviors that had become addictive and self-destructive for him last year. It appears he hasn’t, but obviously none of us can know with 100% certainty what’s happening behind the scenes. That said, if he has those things under control, it’s fair to ask whether this instance of drinking during the bye week really should be grounds for a demotion and public shaming?
I genuinely think Manziel is going to be an excellent QB in the league, but it’s becoming more and more clear to me that he is simply with the wrong organization at the wrong time of his life.
He’s a 22-year-old in an extremely unique situation. Multi-millionaire potential face of a pro football franchise. Like as not, comportment is part of the gig. Did you see Andrew Luck swan riding and rolling dollar bills during his rookie year? Not saying lock Manziel in a freezer, but if he wants to be QB1, sacrifices must be made.
Dear Lord,
Thank you for Stryker1121
Signed,
christdottcomm
Worked for Paris Hilton.
“That said, if he has those things under control, it’s fair to ask
whether this instance of drinking during the bye week really should be
grounds for a demotion and public shaming?”
Ahhh… but what you really must ask yourself is this: Is it grounds to demote and publicly shame him after he sat in Pettine’s office and then in front of cameras exclaiming he would not do anything to embarrass himself, then proceeded to turn up with champagne bottle in hand, mean mug the camera and then come home and say “uh…yeah….I’m not sure which video you’re talking about……it might be old”
This dude sat in front of his boss/cameras said all the right things and then proceeded to do directly the opposite.
I’m not Mike Pettine but I’m sure he didn’t appreciate flipping on every TV/Radio station in the country and see these as the headline:
https://coedbc.files.wordpress.com/2015/11/manziel-austin-dj-booth.png?w=487&h=344
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/11/24/01/2EBFCC2900000578-0-image-a-13_1448328289693.jpg
“22-year-old struggles with authority”
Not exactly an earth-shattering headline outside of the ultra corporate confines of the NFL that we sometimes take for granted.
Anyone who thinks the Browns can trade this guy for anything is kidding themselves. he has zero trade value. They couldn’t get a backup punter for him. Funny that people still hope Jerry Jones is dying to have him
No chance…none…no one would give up anything
He was never a pro quarterback. Just another wasted draft pic screw up of the Cleveland Browns
Name me one other 22 year old NFL QB that is also currently publicly “struggling with authority”?
This notion that he should be excused because “he’s just doing what any other 22 year old would be doing” is so lame.
Luck went to Stanford. Manziel to A&M. draw your own conclusions…
Blow for Snow….
Mariota and Winston are the only starting QBs younger than Manziel. One is a rapist, the other a pretty nice role model. Manziel is somewhere in the middle.
Shut down the internet folks, we have a winner!
Not that I am a Jhonny fan, but can we safely say the Browns found a way to lose in their bye week?
hi MARK … i’m half-joking. i’ve seen davis play when he started for the rams & i’d take him over keenum any day.
This is about Manziel. Very much about Manziel. He is to blame. Just him. Every one of us would have been fired from our jobs long ago, but this d-bag kept getting another and another and another chance.
The guys in charge have their failings. For example, drafting Johnny Maziel in light of all evidence that exactly what has happened was going to happen. This is not about them, though.
I was running
Eh, wake me up when he dates Kartrashian.
True, but Jameis seems to have been toeing the line since becoming an employee of Tampa.
Andrew Luck is a bit of an outlier. The comparison to Jameis Winston is more apt who had his share of extracurricular issues coming into the league. So far, he’s been pretty clean especially in comparison to Manziel.
I would say Ezekial Elliot’s comments after the MSU game were much more directly challenging to authority than Johnny’s rather innocuous partying captured surreptitiously on a cell phone.
I’m not excusing what Manziel did, but I think it’s important we see it in proper context/proportionality because public shaming is a powerful force and is getting ratcheted up.
But you are excusing what Manziel did. The only public shaming that occurred here was executed by Manziel himself. The context is this guy doesn’t get it.
Here’s some more context to consider: if you were a 22 year old professional (doctor, lawyer, business executive, etc.) would this sort of social media profile be ignored by your employer, clients, future employer, etc.?
The idea of getting priorities in order are foreign to him. Being sober HAS to be his main priority. See what happens when he doesn’t? Johnny the NFL player is different from the Johnny the party guy. If he doesn’t get Johnny the party guy in order there won’t be a Johnny the NFL player. He seems to have an enabler as a girl friend. Joe Namath got away with it because the media wasn’t as huge as it is now. In the older days baseball players were protected by sports writers. They shared the same booth at a bar. Writers would never think of writing anything negative. At the same time the players invited the writers into their life. Not anymore. Give the press a chance and they can be brutal. Back when Johnny would never have been shown in a bar. There was a quarterback for the Lions named Bobby Layne. He was well known for partying. He’d go to the stadium drunk. Not now. People can’t wait to see famous people messing up. It’s the “see I told you”! Johnny needs to get his ass together before he has NO future in the NFL. He already has his size against him. Why make it harder on himself. Once he got the starting job he probably thought he had it made. I have the same disease he does. I didn’t write that to start an argument disease vs not a disease. For this it’s a disease. I’ve been sober for 26 years. The odds of people getting and staying sober are extremely low. The best he can hope for is giving himself the best chance. Going to 6th street in Austin is the complete opposite. I’ve been there on a Saturday night. There is no driving on 6th street during that time. The worst thing is a 22 year old guy with an unlimited amount of money with a drinking problem. Is this going to be another story for the back page of the sports section. Maybe 30 for 30. A Football Life. If he’s unwilling to take full responsibility for his actions or make his sobriety his top priority he’ll be washed up. Because of his ‘problem’ I would love to see him conquer this and be a successful quarterback for the Browns in the future. I’m sure he’ll get more posts blasting him than supporting him but he deserves it, On top of it he tried to lie his way out of it. That comes under the heading of idiot. He has to be gut level honest with himself. Not “cash register” honest. If he’s not willing to say from his gut that he has a problem he probably won’t give himself a chance. He won’t be honest with anybody if he won’t be honest with himself. Changing playgrounds and playmates. That was a difficult one because people think we are trying to put ourselves above other people. Not the case. Being a chocoholic working in the Hershey factory. What does he need to change? Everything.
I cannot pretend the team wouldn’t consider it.
I think he’s a good coach, terrible politician. Texas job is as political as any.
Johnny “Football” doesn’t get it, he still thinks he in college where he could get away with all the stunts
he pulls. He is finding out it doesn’t work that way. He thinks the Browns head coach is going to be
like his head coach in college. I predicted that “Johnny Football” would last 3 years in the NFL.
The whole league is looking a “Johnny Football” and thinking what is the mater with this kid.
He was in rehab and it didn’t do a thing. The Browns are giving “Johnny Football” six games to
straighten out. I would not be surprise if Browns are trying to find a way launch “Johnny Football”.
If he’ with the Browns next year “Johnny Football” is on borrowed time. There are a lot of college quarterbacks
that can’t make the adjustment from college to the NFL. “Johnny Football” is finding out the stunts
he pulls are not acceptable in professional sports. If “Johnny Football” keeps on doing what he doing
he’s just going to be a flash in the pan and never to be heard from again. “Johnny Football” is a “punk”
If you remember “Johnny Football” the Browns to take him now or he’ll go too the highest bidder. The Browns took the bait and now they are paying for it. The Browns thought “Johnny Football” was the answer. Even if the Browns where to unload “Johnny Football” he would be pulling the same stunts he is pulling with the Browns. “Johnny Football” doesn’t care about playing in the NFL all he wants are the big contracts so he can go out and party and not have to worry. His thinking is the coaches and owner will put up with his crap. I predict that “Johnny Football” will be gone by 2018 he’ll be broke and when someone like “Johnny Football” who no longer the party guy with all his lackeys are going to “Johnny Football” you have no money your no good to us. This is going to happen. He just doesn’t know it yet.
” I predict that “Johnny Football” will be gone by 2018 he’ll be broke”
You truly have no idea what you’re talking about. The guys family is loaded. He’s already set for life. His family is worth over $50 Million dollars.
Let me tell you something pal, 50 million dollars is not a lot of money according to today’s standard. If his family was worth 500 million then I can see “Johnny Football” being set for life. “Johnny Football” is being paid millions of dollars that he would’ve not earned outside of football. That means he would be living off “mommy and daddy”. He doesn’t get it. And neither do you. “Johnny Football won’t be around too much longer. If he keeps on going the way he’s going he could be launched in next years draft. So think about it.