In recent memory, Johnny Manziel is undeniably the biggest “What If” in the NFL. The former Browns QB took College Football by storm when he became the first-ever freshman to win the Heisman Trophy. His electric play style, jaw-dropping throws, and flamboyance for the Aggies soon made him one of the most hyped players in college football history. However, things took a nosedive after Johnny made his much-anticipated NFL move.
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Picked in the first round of the 2014 NFL draft by the Cleveland Browns, Manziel’s rookie season was an utter failure. Drowned in off-field controversies and reckless on-field plays, the QB was dropped by the Browns after 14 games. His battles with addiction and legal issues also became the talk of the town. Moreover, personal struggles and mental health issues heightened for Johnny, leading to a long road of setbacks. Nevertheless, since 2016, Manziel has been on a journey of self-discovery and rehabilitation, working on overcoming his troubles and correcting his wrongs from the past.
Manziel’s latest appearance at Shannon Sharpe’s Club Shay Shay podcast is part of his rehabilitation journey where he publicly discussed his struggles, learning, and the road to redemption. One of the topics discussed during the interaction with Sharpe was the NIL valuation. CU quarterback Shadeur Sanders recently made news when he became the highest NIL-valued player at $4.7 million. Based on this context, Sharpe asked Manziel what he thought his NIL value would have been if NIL were to exist during his stint with the Aggies.
In reply, the former Browns’ QB quoted a figure of $10 million annually. Manziel broke down his valuation by revealing how he would have made $5 million just by Influencer marketing on social media, especially Instagram. The QB justified it by revealing that back then; he had some of the biggest stars, like James Harden, Drake, and LeBron James, in his DMs. Manziel believed he had an incredible network of people with him at that age and he could have easily monetized it with the new-age marketing trends.
“I could have done $5 million a year on my own just through the people and connections that I had on my phone,” Manziel said. “My access that I had to the world and the people that I wanted to be around was limitless. It’s just my cellphone and a house.”
Whether one agrees or not, Manziel does have a point. The QB was backed by industry bigwigs like LeBron and Drake and hung out with them regularly. However, he doesn’t have them around today due to his recklessness. In the latter part of the podcast, Manziel went on to issue an apology for not being able to live up to their expectations and disappointing them along the way.
Johnny Manziel Apologizes to Drake, LeBron James, and Skip Bayless For Letting Them Down
Johnny Manziel’s rise in college football was truly meteoric. He was a household name and eventually earned the moniker of Johnny “Football” for this craze. With a high-ceiling prospect like Johnny, it was only natural for the biggies of the world to connect with Manziel at an early age. Drake and LeBron were two of those biggies who decided to invest in Johnny from an early age. The duo regularly invited the QB to hang out with them.
Unfortunately, marred with drug and mental health allegations, Manziel then couldn’t repay his faith in them and failed to maintain a good relationship with them. On the podcast, he expressed his disappointment in letting them down and revealed that he owed them an apology for all the time and faith they invested in him. Drake was a huge fan of Manziel and made him wear the OVO brand, too. However, Manziel felt that he wasn’t an ideal representative of OVO and, hence, feels bad today for letting Drake down.
“If I handle my business in the proper way, I make him proud, right?” he asked. “Our relationship changes; so like there’s a lot of people that I let down and I truly feel like [Drake] and LeBron [James] at a point in time were people that I really, really let down, you know?”
“I’m not harboring on this in any kind of way – I’m just calling it exactly what it is and the way that I feel about it,” Manziel further said. “I owe those people an apology and hopefully one day down the line, I’ll be able to have the opportunity as a man to be able to look him in the eye and be able to do that.”
Sharpe, during the conversation, also reminded Manziel that First Take Analyst Skip Bayless was also a big fan of Manziel. Back when Johnny signed for Cleveland, Bayless predicted that the QB would easily be the biggest icon of Cleveland shadowing LeBron. Unfortunately for Skip, he couldn’t have been more wrong. Hence, Manziel also apologized to Skip for letting him down.
“Skip. I love you, bro. I hope you know that it was always love. And I honestly feel like I let him down, right?” Manziel expressed.
All said and done, it’s truly sad seeing a high-ceiling prospect like Manziel traverse through this journey. However, it’s commendable to see Johnny take credible steps to come up from the abyss he found himself in.
