I was a freshman in college when I first laid eyes on “Johnny Football”. I was living at home attending my local community college for my first year, and was flipping through the channels with my dad one Saturday. A Texas A&M game was on, and since I have family in Texas who attend A&M and are hard core Aggies fans, we watched the game.
“Their quarterback is really hot,” I said at one point.
I laughed as my dad rolled his eyes, but I couldn’t deny my observation. The quarterback I was gushing about was Johnny Manziel, and he took home the Heisman Trophy that year. I ran a quick Google search on Manziel and saw he had been arrested a few months prior for disorderly conduct, and wasn’t surprised.
It is no secret that athletes party hard and misbehave at times, and media attention has increased on twenty-something athletes who go a little too hard. For some, the behavior is harmless, like for New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski who is known for partying (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pjE88-EcRw), yet avoids a bad reputation for no harm is caused and he is just seen as a big goofball. It is not the same for Patrick Kane of the Chicago Blackhawks who cause laughter at some antics (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcYdcIuVnSg) but laughter stops when the law gets involved and/or harm is inflicted such as his 2009 altercation with a cab driver in his hometown of Buffalo, New York (http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_daddy/post/Kane-arrested-after-allegedly-assaulting-robbin?urn=nhl,181695), as well as an allegation of sexual assault in the summer of 2015 (http://www.motherjones.com/media/2015/09/patrick-kane-sexual-assault-case-explainer) (which I wrote about a few months back and you can read about it here: http://theodysseyonline.com/illinois-state/the-issue-of-the-patrick-kane-rape-case-that-nobody-is-talking-about/205790). For some athletes, like Dallas Stars center Tyler Seguin, behavior such as underage drinking and late night partying affecting his on ice performance led to his trade from Boston to Dallas in 2013 (http://www.foxsports.com/nhl/story/tyler-seguin-hard-party-night-of-trade-homophobic-offensive-tweet-hacker-took-over-account-dallas-stars-out-of-control-070713) where he has cleaned up his act and is now one of most famous athletes in the NHL.
Manziel’s behavior has caused occasional laughter, but has gone completely off the rails. Unlike the athletes mentioned above, it is speculated that Manziel isn’t just letting loose, but that he is an addict. Nobody is laughing anymore as the former Texas A&M golden boy is on a downward spiral. Manziel’s father believes he has a serious problem with alcohol, going as far as saying he “won’t live to see his 24th birthday” (http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/14720378/johnny-manziel-dad-says-quarterback-refused-enter-rehab-needs-help) if he doesn’t seek treatment soon.
Since Manziel was drafted to the Cleveland Browns in 2014, his behavior has only gotten worse from his less than stellar record while playing for the Aggies (http://www.dallasweekly.com/sports/article_8a5eb956-def5-11e5-bdc1-6b0e4e68d865.html) resulting in events from a stint in rehab to a domestic violence accusation being sent to a grand jury.
The incident that is being considered the last straw is a domestic violence accusation (http://www.reviewjournal.com/sports/sideline/dallas-police-refer-case-against-johnny-manziel-grand-jury) issued by ex-girlfriend Colleen Crowley that occurred in early February and was declared to be sent to a grand jury later in the month. Crowley described a disturbing scene in which Manziel appeared to be “on some kind of drugs”, struck her several times, and allegedly told Crowley to “shut up or I’ll kill us both” when she began to scream. Manziel denies the accusation and the details of the incident are rather unclear, but it is appeared to be the last straw when Manziel’s agent dropped him. Manziel responded to the incident by partying hard in Mexico (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3459217/The-guys-condoms-blowing-like-balloons-Johnny-Manziel-s-wild-booze-sexy-parties-15-GIRLS-2-500-night-villa-Cabo-revealed-just-week-allegedly-beating-ex.html) only days after his breakup with Crowley.
As expected, the Cleveland Browns (http://www.clevelandbrowns.com/news/article-5/Browns-waive-QB-Johnny-Manziel/140661fa-9399-41ee-97d5-9f87b942ed7b) announced on Friday that Manziel has been dropped from the team and is now a free agent. Despite expressing interest in signing with the Dallas Cowboys (http://www.reviewjournal.com/sports/sideline/dallas-cowboys-reportedly-not-interested-johnny-manziel), who won’t consider until Manziel “gets his life back in order”. It is highly unlikely that any other team will sign him due to his reputation.
What is next for Johnny Manziel? He faces up to one year in jail or a $4,000 fine for possible domestic violence charges. If Manziel continues on this destructive path, his father’s fear of him not living to see another birthday may sadly come true. It seems as if the Heisman Curse has struck again, only tragically this time.
Manziel has entered rehab for alcoholism before, and sometimes more than one stay is needed for a recovery. It is clear that he suffers from alcoholism, which is a serious disease that requires treatment and is no joke. With his multiple refusals to return to rehab, his future is incredibly unclear. I (and other Manziel fans) can only hope is that he will face the court-given consequences if he is charged with domestic violence, and seek treatment in rehab. It would be a shame for another young life to be lost to alcoholism.
