A 22-year old partying it up with a bottle of champagne in a night club? Nothing too out of the norm here right? Wrong.
That behavior you’d come to expect from a kid in his early 20’s, the problem? Usually NFL quarterbacks don’t act like that…and apparently Browns head coach Mike Pettine has had enough. Manziel was set to start the Browns Monday Night Football game vs the Ravens this week but has now demoted the QB two spots down to 3rd string, and will start veteran Josh McCown instead. Talk about a message being sent.
The Browns have been trying to cope with Manizel’s immature behavior since the day they drafted him, which was a concern now coming to fruition pre-draft. Manziel has been reported to be going out on every weekend, drinking at 1:00pm on his off days, and other instances alike. The QB checked into rehab a few months ago and seemed to be on the right path, only to leave early and start drinking again; obvious in this video:
The video surfaced Monday and shows Manziel partying with some friends and fans holding a $500 bottle of champagne in his hand.
Manziel accordingly didn’t get into any trouble on any of the night, but it’s the fact that he was out partying and drinking once again after having it be an issue that cause the move by Pettine.
During a press conference held Tuesday after the move, the coach told reporters:
“Josh McCown will be the starting quarterback on Monday night against the Ravens,” Pettine said in a statement released by the team. “I informed the quarterbacks of that decision after I sat down and spoke with Johnny, Flip (John DeFilippo) and Kevin (OâConnell) after practice today. Johnny will be the third quarterback. Iâve spoken to Ray (Farmer) and Jimmy (Haslam) to inform them of my decision, and they are in full support.
“Everyone in this organization wants what is best for Johnny just like we do for every player in our locker room. I’m especially disappointed in his actions and behavior because he has been working very hard. The improvements from last year to this year have been tremendous but he still has to consistently demonstrate that he has gained a good understanding of what it takes to be successful at the quarterback position on this level. It goes well beyond the field. We are going to continue to support him in every way possible, but at this point, we’ve decided it’s best to go with Josh as the starter going forward.”
Simply put, this is not how you keep your starting gig as an NFL quarterback. If Johnny Manziel hasn’t learned that lesson already, someone may want to teach it to him, otherwise it may not be long before he has plenty of time (but a lot less money) to do as much partying as he pleases.
Manziel had a response to the video, saying that “Video’s can be old.”
…probably not the right one.
[TMZ Sports]
