“Johnny Manziel is finally on the right track.” – Steve Harvey.
After behind benched for two games by his team for a video which surfaced of the rookie QB holding a champagne bottle while partying on the Brown’s bye week. At this point we think Johnny Football may be literally single-handedly trying to get traded by the Browns after the season ends. Manziel had taken himself out of rehab not too long before the video was taken, causing concern for the organization, especially with management and head coach Mike Petine.
As of Monday, another video of Manziel partying has surfaced, this one taking place on Christmas eve, with Manziel and a friend drinking while lip-syncing to a Future song. Oh and did we mention they’re drinking 4lokos? C’mon Jonny, what are we 15?
The video was released via Busted Coverage:
Coach Mike Petine has commented on the new situation saying, “Anytime there’s something with our players that casts them potentially in a bad light whether it’s Johnny or any of our other guys, it’s certainly a concern,” said Pettine, per Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com. “I’m sure I’ll see it, I’ll have a discussion with him about it.”
This is the second time this year Pettine has had to comment publicly after Manziel was videoed partying during his off time. The previous incident resulted in Manziel getting benched in favor of Josh McCown, but it doesn’t sound as though the consequences will be as severe this time around. “These circumstances are different from the incident that occurred before,” Pettine said, per Cabot. “But I’m just not going to go into a ton of detail with it until I get a little bit more information about it, but it’s something that I’m sure privately we’ll discuss if it needs to be discussed.”
On its own, the most recent Manziel video is completely innocuous. In addition, most 23-year-old NFL stars are free to enjoy their time away from the field as they choose so long as they aren’t harming themselves or those around them. Manziel is a special case, though. His party habits were well-documented during his time in college, and he made news for the wrong reasons during the summer of 2014 for two notable photos, one including a rolled-up dollar bill and the other an inflatable swan. At the end of January, Manziel voluntarily entered a treatment facility and left after a little over a month.
“You see the reputation, what was out there,” said Pettine in early December, per ESPN.com’s Pat McManamon. “I don’t think we anticipated that his problems, his issues, how deep-rooted they were, the extent of it.”
Manziel has to remain on his best behavior at all times, and the slightest hiccup, such as his Christmas Eve video, is bound to be blown out of proportion. He can ill afford to suffer further setbacks—otherwise he’ll be putting his Browns career in serious jeopardy.
(Bleacher Report)
