Johnny Manziel, or “Johnny Football” as he was called during his heyday, put on a show at Texas A&M in 2012. He wowed crowds with his unique abilities, submitting one of the most entertaining Heisman Trophy-winning seasons of all time. But while it was fun for us, the viewers, it was even more so for Manziel himself. Perhaps too much so.
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There were many character concerns about the hard-partying Manziel when he was coming out in the 2014 NFL Draft. He slipped to the No. 22 pick, where he was selected by the downtrodden Cleveland Browns. Unfortunately, the chance they took on him wasn’t reciprocated with hard work from Manziel.
He continued his off-field recklessness, often drinking too much and getting into fights with his girlfriend. He lasted only two seasons in Cleveland, compiling a 2-6 record. After being cut by the Browns in 2016, he never got another NFL shot. Now, over a decade later, he’s placing partial blame on the city itself for causing his depression.
“F***, man, I hated Cleveland so much, and I know that’s going to be tough to hear. That place aided to my depression for sure,” Manziel said on the IMPAULSIVE podcast.
And possibly even worse was that he made this declaration while on Logan Paul’s podcast. If these are the types of friends he continues to keep, he still hasn’t learned his lesson.
When the Nightcap crew got a hold of that Manziel quote, they were not impressed. Both Shannon Sharpe and Chad Johnson were as quotable as anyone during their playing days, but they put in the work to back it up. And they never outright disrespected an entire city like Manziel did with Cleveland. Ochocinco said he didn’t “like it.”
“I would never blame the city. The city’s not an excuse. I’m going to play football, Unc! I’ve been to Cleveland before. Hell, I love Cleveland,” Ocho said.
“There are things I like to do when I go to a city like that. Matter of fact, if I’m just coming from Texas A&M. I love me some Johnny Manziel. Based on what he did in college, I don’t wanna go to a big city. I don’t want to go to an atmosphere that is similar to… what I had in college. I wanna go to a city where it’s not as fast as being in Miami.”
Ochocinco, who played in Cincinnati for a decade and visited Cleveland once a year, broke down how Cleveland has everything you really need, such as nightclubs, fancy restaurants, and the like. Sharpe, meanwhile, simply doesn’t believe that Manziel prepared himself properly for the switch from college to the pros and from Texas to Cleveland.
Johnny Manziel was a unique talent, but he wasted all of that. And based on how he’s speaking in this interview—continuing to blame others for his shortcomings—he still hasn’t matured. He said later on the podcast that he was still contemplating a return. But with a 32-year-old’s body and a teenager’s penchant for excuses, there’s no way a team would take another chance on him now.