Let's take it back to the 90s with Dennis Rodman and Ron Artest. Flash forward 10 years or so to Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan. Now, Miley Cyrus, Amanda Bynes, and Johnny Manziel.
What do they all have in common? They have been in the headlines for having problems with their lives and fame.
Rodman and Artest are just naturally different for their crazy, yet somewhat lavish, lifestyle habits. They were famous for being the bad boys of the NBA and causing headlines to appear not only on ESPN, but on the major news networks as well. They were hungry for the fame all of their young life and when they got it, they somewhat, no, they did, abuse their claim to fame and received a bunch of havoc for it.
Britney Spears and Lindsey Lohan are not too far from the NBA bad boys. They grew up in the limelight and when they reached the alleged "age of reason" a.k.a adulthood, they were immediately looked at in a different light. The teenage problems would immediately have to be shut-off and adult mode would have to be completely on.
The same thing can be said about Miley Cyrus and Amanda Bynes as their stories are almost carbon copies of Spears and Lohan. Plus, I don't think I need to say anything about their lives because it's almost all on the internet/newspapers/tabloids.
So now to the boy who is really in the news, Johnny "Johnny Football" Manziel. The Cleveland Browns QB recently checked himself into a rehabilitation center to "get his priorities straight" says the rep of the Browns. Manziel has been in the news ever since his acclaimed success at Texas A&M University. He was the man, the myth, the legend in the football program. With a strong arm and a somewhat different mindset with the game, he was an unforgettable force in NCAA football. Winning the Heisman in 2012 was seen as a highlight for the QB, yet most see the win as the start of a downfall.
Manziel let the fame get to him to say the least. His partying? Outrageous. He may not be a LiLohan or Ms. Cyrus, but he is a football star that the youth look up to. A role model for the kids playing the game they love. The partying started after the win, followed by more inappropriate actions that halted him from winning a second Heisman trophy. The fame also caused his draft stock to plummet from being a top 3 pick to becoming the 22nd pick in the 2014 NFL Draft.
His rookie year definitely wasn't what he or any of football fans really expected. People had faith in him, faith in his love of the game and the way he executes a pass. But he failed to show success to his fans and did not handle the failure well. As the Browns' offseason was imminent, Manziel flew out to Miami and other places to begin his offseason fun. But with threats towards his career, the famous money-making, self-absorbed, party boy QB checked himself into rehab. The visit, however long, is the turning point in not only his life, but his career as well.
So that brings the question, is having everyone remember your name worth going to rehab for? Is being on the front of every newspaper aiding you if you're looking like a jack ass?
Is fame really all it's cracked up to be?
