Why did Johnny Manziel end up being such a bust?
Art imitates life.
A few years ago, a movie came out starring Kevin Costner. Draft Day told what was supposedly a fictionalized tale of the lowly Cleveland Browns facing a serious off-season dilemma. Costner, the team’s unpopular general manager, was confronted with an excruciatingly fateful decision that would determine not only the Browns’ future but his own survival, as well.
In “Draft Day,” the Browns held rights the first pick in the NFL draft. Everyone in sports-crazed Cleveland — the team owner, the fans, and the media — expected Kostner to do what appeared obvious. It almost seemed too easy — select the flashy college star quarterback who was widely forecast to be a franchise player and perhaps even a game-changer. That was originally the plan. However, just before the draft began, Kostner uncovered some alarming character flaws in the projected pick and instead went with his gut instinct. The first-rounder was traded away to another team and Kostner’s profound wisdom was ultimately vindicated. The Browns dodged a bullet. If only real life were so easy.
Unfortunately for the real Cleveland Browns, they didn’t have a Kevin Costner in the front office. In 2014, they went ahead and drafted a flashy star quarterback with their first-round pick named Johnny Manziel, fresh off a record-smashing season at a football factory known as Texas A&M. Despite numerous red flags indicating Manziel often seemed more interested in partying with this pals rather than practicing football and studying a playbook, the Browns made what turned to be a dreadfully poor decision which has since metastasized into malignancy. Now two seasons later, the franchise realizes it’s made yet another monumental blunder and others are paying the price. Just this past week, the team just fired its general manager. They also replaced their 6th head coach in eight years. More heads would roll, too — if there were any left to sever. Yet for all the carnage happening right now in Cleveland, the quarterback position remains unchanged with Johnny Manziel atop the depth chart wearing the orange dunce cap.
Indeed, Manziel’s stock, both as a player and a person, has fallen faster than shares of Chipotle after the food poisoning breakout. His widely-publicized off-the-field antics have been so blatantly stupid, virtually everyone in Cleveland has lost confidence and wants him driven to the nearest bus station with a one-way ticket out of town. This dramatic shift in public opinion has been Manziel’s doing. He’s been photographed at parties during mid-season. He’s been stopped by police while driving during a domestic altercation with his girlfriend. He’s already checked himself in and out of rehab for self-admitted alcohol abuse, yet has since been seen drinking the same week of games. But that’s Lite beer compared to the mind-cracking moonshine that was brewed up this past weekend at the MGM Casino, in Las Vegas.
According to “Vegas Confidential,” a popular daily column penned by writer Norm Clarke in the Las Vegas Review-Journal (Wed., Jan. 6), Manziel showed up on The Strip last Saturday night, just hours before the Browns were to close out yet another dismal season in a home game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Manziel had been declared “inactive” for the game played on Sunday. Yet, instead of sticking with his team just another day or so and giving what support he could along the sidelines as is typical behavior with injured players, Manziel bolted Cleveland for Las Vegas. Somehow, he was healthy enough to party at the MGM’s Hakkasan nightclub and play lots of blackjack. The next morning, he also missed a meeting with the team physician back in Cleveland.
Manziel’s behavior was outlandish and unintentionally hysterical. Fearing he’d be recognized and possibly photographed, Manziel reportedly donned a fake blonde wig and horned-rimmed glasses while inside the nightclub and when gambling in the pit. The disguise only made former Heisman trophy winner look more ridiculous out in public, and probably drew unwanted attention. The weekend reality caper finally ended at 3 am when Manziel, who banked a $4.3 million signing bonus two years ago and is scheduled to earn another $2.1 million this season for appearing in just nine of 16 games in which he posted one of the NFL’s lowest quarterback ratings, got into an ugly dispute over the bill at Hakkasan.
Clarke’s column reported the incident as follows: “When it came time to pay the bill, he asked to have it comped because he didn’t bring cash and didn’t want to put it on his card.” The source went on to say Manziel ended up paying with a credit card. During his visit, Manziel “and his crew” were given a private booth in the VIP section, which is “one of the darkest areas of the club.”
So, Manziel isn’t just a childish punk. He’s also a cheapskate.
If Manziel has any defenders left, and perhaps there are some starry-eyed sycophants still out there, they may rightfully point to other star quarterbacks of the past who displayed questionable off-the-field behavior. Back during his heyday, Joe Namath personified the dream bachelor lifestyle, partying around New York City, drinking heavily, and enjoying the company of the opposite sex. Kenny Stabler, the gutsy Oakland Raiders quarterback during the 1970s often went out with his teammates the night before games, typically drinking and shooting pool. Stabler even smoked cigarettes. The difference was — both Namath and Stabler were bona fide winners who enjoyed the unwavering confidence of their teammates and coaches. They were also champions. Only after working hard and achieving some measure of success does one get the right to play hard. By contrast, Manziel’s Browns finished 3-13 this season — not exactly Namath- and Stabler-like numbers.
This leads me to my crackpot theory, which might not seem so crazy once explained. There’s no way a professional athlete can really be this stupid (okay, bring up Ryan Leaf and Todd Marinovich — point conceded). Manziel could have easily waited just two more days, and then at season’s end partied his ass off over the next four months and worn all sorts of clever disguises. Why would the star quarterback who’s already simmering in boiling hot water risk his career in Cleveland by running off to Las Vegas for a quick 36-hour bash? This wasn’t just the last straw. Manziel’s hunkered down camel broke its back a long time ago and is now sprawled onto all fours laced in a straight jacket.
My suspicions tell me that Manziel knows very well that he’s done in Cleveland. So, now he’s taking a scorched-earth policy. Undoubtedly destined for the trading block, Manziel can clear the way for a fresh start with another team as quickly as possible by demolishing what remains of his lone bridge back in Cleveland. His visit to Las Vegas wasn’t so much a party as a detonation.
Behind all this and perhaps waiting in the wings with a warm embrace and a checkbook in hand is Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, who is rumored to be quite interested in Manziel as a prospect. Aside from the quarterback’s Texas roots, the conspiracy makes lots of sense. At age 35, Dallas won’t have Tony Romo, its current quarterback for much longer. He’s also proven to be injury-prone and may not have but a season or two left in the tank, if that. Top quarterback prospects are a rare commodity nowadays, and Jones is wise enough to know that picking up Manziel in a bankruptcy sale could have a tremendous upside, at virtually no risk.
Hence, it’s quite possible Manziel wants to make as speedy an exit out of Cleveland as possible. He’s willing to snatch that one-way bus ticket straight to Arlington and join a team that has historically shown it’s willing to take chances on athletes with discipline problems (fill in the blank with your choice of Greg Hardy, Josh Brent, Sam Hurd, Pacman Jones, et. al.). No one doubts that Jones is unscrupulous enough to orchestrate circumstances that could effectively bring a 23-year-old prospect with 15 potentially glorious seasons ahead as the next field general for the most prized franchise in American sports. That certainly could happen. The cost to Jones: Perhaps a 3rd- of a 4th-round draft pick and a coupon for a free appetizer at Chili’s.
If this all happens, as I suspect it might, such a course of events would be a disgrace. It would also be wickedly brilliant. Even in the movies, Kevin Costner couldn’t have pulled this one off.