He said he would relax “like everyone else in the locker room,” and that he wouldn’t be “a distraction to this team or an embarrassment to the organization.”
Then, of course, he did anything but keep a low profile.
According to a story published by TMZ, Manziel hit up two nightclubs in Austin on Thursday night and Friday night, partying and boozing with friends all night long. A video surfaced from one of those evenings of Manziel in a DJ booth rapping explicit lyrics while holding an empty bottle of champagne.
By Monday, the video had gone viral on Instagram and Twitter, and Pettine and the rest of the Browns organization were aware.
Test FAILED!
Perhaps Manziel didn’t think the team would have the audacity to bench him just one week after making him the starter. After all, he got away with much worse stuff both this year and last year and barely got a slap on the wrist, other than not being able to beat out a pair of journeymen quarterbacks.
Were any of the other quarterbacks out partying on their weekend off? Or were they still in town, studying film, looking for ways to improve? I’m going to guess the latter for most of them.
Either way, he lied to his coaches, and it was finally the last straw.
Also remember Manziel’s very public 70-day stint in a rehab facility in Pennsylvania during the winter that specializes in substance abuse issues. Manziel, like he’s done millions of times to the media, swore that he would be a “changed man.” Those words turned out to be hollow.
Already this season, there have been three public instances that involved Manziel drinking. There was the fight with his girlfriend that drew the attention of the NFL where admitted to “day-drinking” in Cleveland before erratically driving home, there was the Saturday two weeks ago following Manziel’s disastrous second half in a nationally-televised Thursday night blowout loss to Cincinnati where he was photographed drinking and hanging out with co-eds at a party at his old college, and then this past weekend.
Strike three, you’re out, pal!
Manziel, barring anything crazy, has taken his last snap as a Cleveland Brown. He will most likely get released during the offseason, if
not sooner. I’m sure the Browns will try to trade him, but there probably isn’t a big market for second-year players who get totally demoted just one week after getting promoted to being the starting quarterback without even playing a game.
Some want to blame the Browns. If they are to get blamed for anything, it’s for drafting this sideshow in the first place, and drafting him with the 22nd overall pick while moving up four spots to do it. It’s drafting him despite a $100,000 scientific study that showed Teddy Bridgewater was the QB in that draft most likely to succeed and with Bridgewater still on the board. It’s drafting him with Derek Carr also still available. Both have their franchises in good positions, as does Blake Bortles, who was taken third overall by the Jacksonville Jaguars. They royally screwed up there.
But everything else, if you’re gonna blame anything or anyone, blame Johnny Manziel himself. He had a reputation of being a spoiled entitled brat in college, was investigated by the NCAA for making money off of his autograph and suspended for half of a game, was spotted partying with celebrities as a freshman and sophomore in college, and that only exacerbated once he became a pro.
There was the “money phone” video that surfaced the day he signed his contract, where he spoke into a stack of cash and bragged about it.
There was the photo of him passed out holding a bottle of champagne while floating in an inflatable swan.
There was the photo of him in the bathroom of a club rolling up a dollar bill like he was going to snort something.
There was the fight between he and his entourage with another group in the lobby of his downtown apartment complex after a night of drinking.
There was the Browns security almost breaking down his door because he overslept his mandatory treatment on his injured hamstring the Saturday before the Ravens game because he got too drunk the night before. He was subsequently banished to the locker room and not allowed to take the field with his team.
And, less than 5 hours after telling the media that he needed to “stop being an ass” before leaving for the season, there was the video of him in Miami drunkenly wishing LeBron James a “Happy Birthday.”
Oh, and let’s not forget that his play on the field wasn’t always the best. His most recent start was arguably the most encouraging, but it also came with a caveat – while he threw for 372 yards, his offense only accounted for 9 points and his team was blown out by the hated Steelers.
Manziel knew he had a bad reputation and cried wolf repeatedly about what he needed to do to fix it, only to exacerbate it. He even went to rehab, which proved to be fruitless based off his recent endeavors.
If Manziel couldn’t be trusted to keep one little promise, how can he be trusted to lead an NFL franchise, to be the face of that franchise? He can’t, which is why Pettine, Farmer and Haslam acted how they did.
They ruined any trade value Manziel might have had, but it needed to be done.
Johnny screwed Johnny.
For so long, the Browns have made a bad habit out of not holding players accountable for their mistakes. Just watch a game and see all the dumb penalties they commit. It was a stupid 8-second video, but it was enough for the Browns to finally live up to their “Play Like a Brown” mantra.
It was way overdue. Hopefully, the Browns actually do their homework this time when they try to find a quarterback of the future in this year’s draft. They don’t need any more divas, they need football players!
Until next time, remember that Cleveland Rocks!
G
November 25, 2015 at 10:49 pm
Hey, maybe Manziel is afflicted with that chronic traumatic encephalopathy that every other person who’s ever touched a football has! I bet those smart docs at Boston Univ will find it in his brain, as long as they already know it’s the brain of a former football player.