Conventional wisdom says quarterback Johnny Manziel – a member of the Browns at least for the time being, but likely for not much longer – is just a knucklehead partier who is completely out of control and as such is blowing a great opportunity to remain in the NFL.
That’s understandable, for there’s a lot of evidence to support that notion. How many videos did you have to see before you were convinced? And this latest situation involving possible domestic violence, just adds to this sorry tale.
But perhaps it’s a little more complicated than that, at least in some respects.
Yes, Johnny Football wants out – of Cleveland, that is, because it’s not a cool enough city for him – and is doing everything he can to make that happen. He can probably stop now, for he has as much chance of returning to play for new Browns head coach Hue Jackson as Turkey Jones does of having his number retired by the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Manziel wants to go to his home-state team, the Dallas Cowboys, who almost took him in the first round of the 2014 NFL Draft before the Browns’ Ray Farmer was dumb enough to do it.
As soon as the Browns trade him for no more than a seventh-round draft choice, if they can indeed get that miniscule amount, release him or send him face-first out the front door, the guess here is that the nonsense will stop and he will miraculously get his act together so he’s an appealing target for Cowboys owner Jerry Jones to be that franchise’s modern version of Eddie LeBaron.
That sounds like a workable and doable plan, but Manziel has to be careful. He needs to understand that there are no guarantees in the NFL other than perhaps Jim Brown forever being the greatest player in the game’s history. But while Manziel has a fan in Brown, he isn’t him – far from it, in fact. They are polar opposites.
There are only 32 teams, so quarterback jobs are few and far between. Manziel can burn bridges in Cleveland, but in doing so, he may also be burning them in other places.
So go and get out of here, Johnny Football, since you’re so driven to do so. You don’t want the Browns, and they don’t want you anymore.
Good luck. You just may need it, though that possibility has never crossed your mind.
And by the way, one more thing: If you really were acting out a ruse with all – or at least a good portion – of this misbehavior, how are we going to know when you’re telling the truth?
