Johnny Manziel Heckled By Rude Football Fan: ‘Good Luck Never Starting In The NFL!’
Johnny Manziel got up close and personal with one of his ruder fans over the weekend. According to a report by Cleveland.com, Manziel was staying at the Four Seasons Hotel in Irving, Texas. He was there attending the PGA tour’s Byron Nelson Classic.
It was while Johnny was relaxing by the pool that an overly zealous football fan insisted on saying hello. The 18-year-old fan was said to be heavily intent on giving Johnny Football a big hug. Manziel wasn’t interested, at which point the fan turned foe. Friends of the bewildered football quarterback said the man began to heckle the Cleveland Browns player mercilessly.
It was when the rude fan quipped, “Good luck never starting in the NFL!” that Johnny Manziel decided that he’d had enough of the harassment. Manziel reportedly threw a water bottle at the young man. At that point, an altercation ensued. Friends of Johnny Manziel and hotel security stepped in to break the confrontation up, and the police were summoned.
Police interviewed Manziel after the confrontation and determined that the Browns quarterback was not intoxicated. The fan, whose name was never released, opted not to press charges. The police asked both men to leave, and Manziel’s entourage reportedly rented a car and vacated the premises.
Johnny Manziel threw a water bottle at a fan who harassed him at a golf tournament. http://t.co/TAFJAkg21o pic.twitter.com/Nj5G9IdYMD
— ESPN (@espn) May 31, 2015
When Johnny Manziel’s agent Erik Burkhardt was asked about the incident, he said that the football player had “acted appropriately by alerting authorities”. Burkhardt also told the media that Manziel attended church with him on Sunday morning, and that there was nothing else to say about what happened.
It seems Johnny Manziel has had his share of confrontations with overly affectionate or confrontational football fans in recent years. In 2014, a 33-year-old man named Chris Gonos was out with his girlfriend when the pair said they spotted Johnny waiting for an elevator.
Gonos told police he pointed Manziel out to his girlfriend: “That’s Johnny Manziel.” Then he approached him.
According to the report, “at this time victim stated to the unidentified male, ‘I’m the biggest Browns fan ever, I love you, I want to give you a hug.'”
Gonos stepped towards Manziel and was promptly punched in the face, the alleged victim’s account to police says, followed by a beat down by Manziel’s crew, giving the man a “swollen lip, right eye swollen, red face.” A security guard intervened and also was hurt.
Manziel was also jeered by fans at a bar late last season, after his failed contribution to helping the Browns make it to the post-season. He gave the “one-finger salute” and reportedly had drinks thrown at him.
When comparing pre-rehab Johnny Manziel to post-rehab Johnny Manziel, it’s easy to see the fan situation isn’t quite as bad as it was in the past. Although, it’s likely Browns fans are more interested in seeing how he handles himself on the field in the near future.
Do you blame Johnny Manziel for reacting the way he did to being harassed? Should he have just called security? Comment below!
[Image Credit: Streeter Lecka/Getty Images]
