He just can’t stop falling further and further down the rabbit hole. Cleveland Browns head coach Mike Pettine announced for Week 13 that Austin Davis will get the start after coming in late last week against Baltimore and throwing one touchdown. Davis could actually be a decent QB and will likely do some good for Cleveland.
This isn’t a story about Austin Davis though, this is a story about Johnny Manziel and just how bad his career has gotten…in just two years. [sc:NFL240banner ]Head here for more on the upcoming Bengals-Browns Week 13 rivalry matchup. If you’d like to learn why the world is no longer rooting for Johnny Football though, read on below.
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What’s going on with Johnny Manziel? Johnny Football’s Devolution Timeline Explained
December 8, 2012
Johnny completes 295-434 passes while airing out 26 touchdowns through the air. He also ripped up the turf, rushing for 1410 yards and 21 touchdowns. He was the clear choice and beat out Notre Dame’s Manti Te’o and Kansas State’s Colin Klein to become the first freshman to win college football’s MVP award. He became the first Texas A&M Hesiman winner since halfback John David Crow took the honors in 1957.
May 8, 2014
Doubts begin to circulate and Johnny Manziel starts to slide in the NFL Draft. The once-touted first overall pick slips out of the top 10 and top 20 all the way down to #22. After drafting Brady Quinn and Brandon Weeden at #22 in years prior and watching them fail, the Browns crossed their fingers and bit the bullet. Manziel texted the Browns asking them to trade up and draft him and they did just that. They traded to move four spots up and selected Johnny Football. Manziel then said in his first interview with Deon Sanders, “I’m going to pour my heart out for this team.” So far though, the Browns would probably appreciate if he poured his liver out more.
June 7, 2014
Johnny Manziel has one hell of a weekend! First he gets photographed at a party drinking a bottle of booze while floating on a blow-up swan. He then gets drafted in the 28th round at 837th overall by the San Diego Padres in the MLB Draft. He then sits courtside at a Spurs-Cavs NBA Finals game. Two weeks later he attended Cleveland Browns mandatory minicamp. An off-season training regimen fit for a king!
August 11, 2014
Well that didn’t take long. Johnny Manziel is fined by the Cleveland Browns for showing up late to practice. In his defense, a few other rookies also “misread the schedule” and showed up late.
August 18, 2014
After opposing players kept doing his little Johnny Money finger shuffle and chirping him from the sidelines, Manziel finally gets fed up. He decides to throw the middle finger salute towards the Washington Redskins bench in a preseason game. He was then fined $12,000 by the Browns.
November 22, 2014
Johnny gets into an altercation in the lobby of an apartment building – an altercation that involved 20 men and two security guards! The Cleveland police were called at 2:36am for a reported “riot” that stemmed from a fan interaction. Chris Gonos approached Manziel and said he was the “biggest Browns fan ever”, he then showered Johnny with love and praise. He then tried to hug Johnny and was punched in the face by a member of his entourage. This one ruled out the future nickname Johnny Classy.
December 23, 2014
After his first season came to a close thanks to a hamstring injury in Week 16, Johnny took to the podium. His lines were what everybody wanted to hear:
“I see me growing up and maturing moving forward.”
“I still had the college mindset a little bit”
“I have to take this a lot more seriously. It’s a job for me now.”
December 27, 2014
Johnny Manziel doesn’t really practice what he preached. He missed the team’s walthrough and was fined for being late for his treatment. Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports also reported that Manziel had thrown a party the night before. Johnny said the rumors were 100% false. He’d later apologize to the team.
January 5, 2015
Manziel had recently told the press, “It’s about actions, it’s about being accountable instead of looking like a jackass.” A few days later TMZ Sports reported he decided to visit a Houston nightclub. TMZ published a photo of him giving the middle finger (again) but this time he wasn’t fined for his actions. Johnny reportedly had drinks thrown on him that night. After a quick shirt changed, he continued his club night – not even a few days removed from his first regular season.
February 2, 2015
Johnny Football makes a good decision. He decides to check in to rehab and face his problems head on. The organization is proud and the media finally lay off the young slinger…for a little bit.
October 12, 2015
In to Johnny’s second season, everything seemed to be going alright for the kid. On October 12th though things changed drastically. The Cleveland police were called and Manziel was taken in for questioning after driving erratically. Manziel and is girlfriend Colleen Elizabeth Crowley were arguing in the vehicle and things escalated quickly. Johnny told police that they’d been drinking earlier in the day. The police determined he wasn’t intoxicated at the time and Johnny was released. Again though, the team had to have a chat with Johnny and was not impressed.
November 17, 2015
Following a 30-9 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers the Browns had enough of Josh McCown and turned to Johnny. Head coach Mike Pettine named him the starter for the remainder of the year entering the Browns bye week.
November 23, 2015
Manziel told the media and the team that he was just going to relax and take it easy during the time off. He then was filmed with a cell phone in Austin, TX partying with a bottle of Dom Perignon. Not even a year removed from his rehab stint, a domestic dispute and a new TMZ video had surfaced again involving him drinking. Manzeil quickly resorted to cover up mode and called the video “old”.
November 24, 2015
It’s revealed that Johnny Manziel not only lied to the media, but he also lied to the team in trying to cover up the video. Manziel was booted to the bottom of the depth chart to the number three role. Following an injury to Josh McCown the following week though, he would find his way back to the second-string role behind Austin Davis.
That my friends, is how not to start your NFL career!
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