From Drew Brees’ physical evaluation with the Miami Dolphins to 31 teams passing Lamar Jackson on night one of the 2018 NFL Draft, there’s certainly no shortage of ‘what if? moments in the NFL’s 105-year history. One of the more glaring hypotheticals of this era, however, has been the career and status of Johnny Manziel.
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The former face of the Cleveland Browns entered the league in 2014 as one of the most highly anticipated prospects of recent times. And it reason. He, after all, was the first ever freshman in the history of college football to win the Heisman trophy. The rest, as they say, is history.
Manziel struggled on and off the field, both mentally and physically, before getting released in 2016. During a recent interview on Logan Paul’s Impaulsive podcast, Manziel said that living in the city of Cleveland did little to help his dwindling mental health.
“F**k man, I hated Cleveland,” exclaimed Manziel. “That place definitely f**king ate into my depression a little, for sure.”
The Browns do have a longstanding reputation of being the least desirable landing spot for rookies on draft night. When asked if he had another preferred destination in mind, the former 22nd overall draft pick jokingly said that “… Anywhere but Cleveland” would have been good enough for him.
“Even in the beginning, I was like, ‘Okay. We can work with this here a little bit’. And then that first real November, the brutal winter was there. Coming from Texas, it was tough sledding for me for sure,” added Manziel.
Then came Manziel’s run-in with vices. If it weren’t for his habitual consumption of various substances, gambling, and poor career choices, some believe Manziel had the potential to become one of the greatest signal callers in the history of the National Football League.
While he certainly won’t shy away from admitting that his life is a cautionary tale for professional athletes, the Texas A&M legend doesn’t necessarily believe that he could have become the next Tom Brady.
“I definitely could have been a person who played in the NFL for eight to 10 years, got to a second contract, and had success. I had a lot of talent, a lot of ability, that I knew was special. I just didn’t work on it the way that I needed to take it to that next level,” admitted Manziel.
The faithful members of the Dawg Pound surely won’t be pleased to hear their disgraced signal caller talking down on their beloved city. Then again, considering the circumstances under which Manziel left the team, his opinion doesn’t hold much weight with anyone residing in the state of Ohio.
For better or worse, Manziel will go down as one of the most divided figures in the history of Cleveland. But hey, the feeling is mutual.
