Johnny Manziel Being Compared To This QB Legend After Expected Cleveland Browns Dismissal
Johnny Manziel is the hot name in NFL circles this week, even though the 2014 first round draft pick isn’t a participant for either Super Bowl team.
Instead, the reason Johnny Manziel — who won the Heismann Trophy at Texas A&M in 2012 — is being so wildly discussed is that his current team is soon to be his former team, according to a new report by Deadspin.
Officially, the Cleveland Browns cannot confirm the team’s intention to drop Manziel until March 9 when the new NFL season officially begins. In the meantime, however, Cleveland Browns Executive Vice President of Football Operations Sashi Brown issued a statement about Johnny Football’s status with the team.
“We’ve been clear about expectations for our players on and off the field. Johnny’s continual involvement in incidents that run counter to those expectations undermines the hard work of his teammates and the reputation of our organization. His status with our team will be addressed when permitted by league rules. We will have no further comment at this time.”
Browns Huddle: Breaking down Sashi Brown's statement on Johnny Manziel
Watch>> https://t.co/IdHyZOzs8D pic.twitter.com/CdJQyz7K4D
— Cleveland Browns (@Browns) February 3, 2016
With the Johnny Manziel era appearing over in Cleveland because of his penchant for partying too much, the quarterback is drawing obvious comparisons to Tim Couch, Ryan Leaf, and Jamarcus Russell as highly ranked draft prospects that turned into busts in the NFL.
What Manziel should hope for, however, is to eventually earn another comparison with a legendary QB who also had a reputation of partying too hard. According to NFL writer Chris Wesseling, Johnny Manziel should strive to follow the path that Brett Farve took to become an NFL Hall of Fame player almost 24 years ago.
In posing a question many are asking, Wesseling shined a light on the path Johnny Manziel could take to continue his NFL playing career. Farve was drafted by the Atlanta Falcons originally, but his coach at the time — Jerry Glanville — knew he needed to get Brett out of the big-city night life that was creating issues for the Southern Miss prodigy.
“I had to get him out of Atlanta…. I could not sober him up. I sent him to a city where at 9:00 at night the only thing that’s open is Chili Joe’s…. And that’s what made Brett Favre make a comeback was going to a town that closed down. If I would have traded him to New York, nobody to this day would have known who Brett Favre ever was.”
Farve did just that, turning his playing career around with the Green Bay Packers. Brett helped the team reach the Super Bowl twice, winning one of the two games. As Wesseling wrote, Johnny Manziel may need a similar destination in order to start anew in the NFL.
Questions about whether Johnny Manziel had a future with the Cleveland Browns hit an all-time high after a recent incident in Fort Worth. The NFL is investigating allegations of an abusive confrontation with a woman only being identified by police reports as an ex-girlfriend, the Inquisitr previously reported.
Johnny Manziel involved in altercation with girlfriend https://t.co/LE8QXVCpEM pic.twitter.com/emi1ZInaCt
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) January 30, 2016
Unfortunately, the issues piled up faster than Manziel could rack up yardage with his play-making abilities. Those issues cost Johnny his marketing representation as LRMR — Lebron James’ own firm — sacked the quarterback early in January over his penchant for miscues.
The quarterback’s future was in question during the season because of an incident involving Manziel and his girlfriend in Avon, Ohio. The couple was seen arguing on the side of the road when police responded, and Johnny Manziel admitted that he had been drinking that day. This revelation came after an off-season the quarterback spent in rehab for alcohol abuse.
The NFL investigated that incident as well, but Johnny was not punished for his involvement in the October incident by the league. His team, however, benched Manziel after the athlete had just started in the two previous games. The issue prompted then offensive coordinator John DeFilippo to say that he expected that Manziel would “bounce back,” although the coach did not specifically say whether Johnny would be with the Cleveland Browns when he did.
That answer, now, seems abundantly clear. What do you think about the Johnny Manziel era ending in Cleveland? Leave your thoughts in the comment section below.
[Photo by Andrew Weber/Getty Images]
