WEBVTT - Johnny Football: Part Two 0:00:07.680 --> 0:00:11.680 Welcome back to playing dirty sports Scandals were I sportscaster 0:00:11.800 --> 0:00:15.960 and scandal server Extraordinariy Jay Harris guide you through some 0:00:16.000 --> 0:00:19.959 of sports darkest chapters. You may recall that last week 0:00:20.000 --> 0:00:22.400 we kicked off the Johnny Manziel or should I say 0:00:22.480 --> 0:00:27.640 Johnny Football story about an unbelievably gifted quarterback struggling to 0:00:27.640 --> 0:00:31.320 toe the line off the GridION. Were Johnny's off field 0:00:31.360 --> 0:00:35.839 antics from NCAA violation, breaches and fights to fake id's 0:00:35.920 --> 0:00:39.280 and late night partying end his career at the college level? 0:00:39.960 --> 0:00:50.800 Or was he destined for the NFL? I? Yes, all 0:00:50.880 --> 0:00:53.519 the ingredients were in the mix for Johnny Football to 0:00:53.560 --> 0:01:00.320 become a legend. Unparalleled athleticism check, charisma check a doring 0:01:00.400 --> 0:01:04.720 fans check. But would he ultimately score his dream touchdown 0:01:04.760 --> 0:01:10.040 by turning pro? Time would tell? Now. You might remember 0:01:10.040 --> 0:01:12.240 that Johnny had been red shirted by a Texas A 0:01:12.280 --> 0:01:15.119 and M head coach Kevin Sumler. This meant that even 0:01:15.160 --> 0:01:19.119 though college sophomores typically aren't eligible for the NFL draft, 0:01:19.680 --> 0:01:23.399 Johnny was since he was in his third academic year 0:01:23.959 --> 0:01:27.880 remember his first technical year. As in Aggie had been 0:01:27.880 --> 0:01:31.160 taking classes and training with the team his second year 0:01:31.200 --> 0:01:34.399 had been his freshman football debut, and so by his 0:01:34.520 --> 0:01:38.920 sophomore year, Johnny had completed sufficient college for the showpiece event, 0:01:39.319 --> 0:01:43.080 the NFL Draft. But even though Johnny Manziel could be 0:01:43.200 --> 0:01:46.959 drafted under eligibility rules, there were some who didn't believe 0:01:47.040 --> 0:01:51.080 he should head to the NFL, at least not yet. 0:01:52.080 --> 0:01:55.320 First and foremost, Johnny's parents seemed to be concerned about 0:01:55.360 --> 0:01:58.320 their erratic son turning pro in the midst of his 0:01:58.480 --> 0:02:01.280 slew of public flare ups, even though they knew that 0:02:01.440 --> 0:02:04.680 if Johnny did go to the NFL, he would likely 0:02:04.720 --> 0:02:08.840 gain millions of dollars in sponsorships out the gate. According 0:02:08.840 --> 0:02:11.960 to the Bleacher Report, after winning the twenty twelve Heisman Trophy, 0:02:12.440 --> 0:02:15.480 Johnny Manziel estimated that he would have been worth probably 0:02:15.600 --> 0:02:19.040 ten million dollars in NIL endorsements after his red shirt 0:02:19.080 --> 0:02:22.440 sophomore season, and could have collected five million through his 0:02:22.560 --> 0:02:26.920 social media channels alone. The fact that Johnny's financial prospects 0:02:26.960 --> 0:02:30.400 were so strong in this moment underscore at least some 0:02:30.440 --> 0:02:37.760 of the probable logic behind his father's next move. Paul 0:02:37.800 --> 0:02:39.920 Manziel met with Texas A and M head coach Kevin 0:02:39.960 --> 0:02:42.920 Sumlin and tried to cut a deal for Johnny to 0:02:42.960 --> 0:02:47.600 see his college education through. Johnny himself recounted what apparently 0:02:47.639 --> 0:02:51.760 went down on Shannon Sharp's Club Shay Shape podcast, saying 0:02:51.919 --> 0:02:54.960 it was the spring of twenty fourteen, or maybe December 0:02:55.040 --> 0:02:58.560 twenty thirteen, right in there about December or January, and 0:02:58.600 --> 0:03:00.840 I'm getting ready to make this say on if I'm 0:03:00.880 --> 0:03:03.280 going to the NFL Draft or if I'm going to 0:03:03.280 --> 0:03:05.760 stay at Texas A and M. I didn't find this 0:03:05.800 --> 0:03:08.360 out until five years later from my dad. But my 0:03:08.520 --> 0:03:11.400 dad went and had a meeting with Kevin Sumlet and 0:03:11.480 --> 0:03:13.800 pretty much went to him manned man and was like, 0:03:14.120 --> 0:03:16.760 we'll take three million dollars and he'll stay for the 0:03:16.800 --> 0:03:22.040 next two years. Interesting, huh. Now, this practice wasn't unique 0:03:22.040 --> 0:03:25.280 to the Manziell family. These types of transactions were part 0:03:25.320 --> 0:03:29.000 of a long standing tradition in collegiate sports, reflecting the 0:03:29.160 --> 0:03:33.919 secretive yet widespread practice of under the table deals before 0:03:33.960 --> 0:03:37.560 the era of name, image and likeness agreements. But it 0:03:37.960 --> 0:03:41.400 was noteworthy that Johnny Manziel's dad tried to cut a 0:03:41.440 --> 0:03:43.840 pay to play deal with A and M that would 0:03:43.880 --> 0:03:47.280 have almost certainly been far less than his son's earnings 0:03:47.280 --> 0:03:51.920 in the NFL. We can only speculate on Paul Manziel's motivations, but, 0:03:52.440 --> 0:03:55.640 as most parents would agree, keeping your kid out of 0:03:55.680 --> 0:04:00.560 trouble is priceless, and maybe, just maybe Paul Aul Manziel 0:04:00.640 --> 0:04:03.520 believed that giving Johnny more time to mature before turning 0:04:03.560 --> 0:04:07.880 pro would ultimately pay off in spades. But as the 0:04:07.960 --> 0:04:11.920 saying goes, the devil fools with the best laid plans, 0:04:12.560 --> 0:04:16.520 and Paul Manziel's attempt was quickly thwarted when coach Kevin 0:04:16.560 --> 0:04:19.880 Sumlin and Texas A and M did not agree to 0:04:19.920 --> 0:04:23.920 cutting the discreete deal. Given that the college's donations had 0:04:23.920 --> 0:04:27.960 more than doubled due to Johnny's playing, it's actually remarkable 0:04:28.040 --> 0:04:30.279 that the school turned down the offer to keep him 0:04:30.279 --> 0:04:33.880 for two more years for just three million dollars. Perhaps 0:04:33.960 --> 0:04:37.279 A and M was unique in its institutional commitment to 0:04:37.400 --> 0:04:41.320 not playing dirty, or perhaps the administration had a feeling 0:04:41.360 --> 0:04:43.880 that Johnny football was about to go off the rails 0:04:43.920 --> 0:04:47.080 and become a liability. In any event, Rumor has it 0:04:47.120 --> 0:04:50.480 that coach Sumlin laughed at Paul Manziel's proposal and no 0:04:50.640 --> 0:04:54.560 money changed hands, So Johnny Manziel riding high as one 0:04:54.600 --> 0:04:58.320 of college football's biggest breakout stars was headed for the 0:04:58.440 --> 0:05:03.200 NFL Draft. You probably think that's the sound of a 0:05:03.279 --> 0:05:07.760 drink being excitedly poured, but you'd be wrong. That's the 0:05:07.800 --> 0:05:13.200 sound that almost unraveled Johnny Manziel's NFL career before it 0:05:13.240 --> 0:05:19.680 had even begun. A positive drug test. Nobody could believe it. 0:05:20.360 --> 0:05:25.920 In Netflix's documentary Untold Johnny Football, Johnny Manziel's agent, Eric 0:05:25.960 --> 0:05:29.000 Burkhardt recalls how flummoxed he was that his client had 0:05:29.120 --> 0:05:33.840 risked flushing away his draft chances. According to Eric, there 0:05:33.880 --> 0:05:37.720 had been a rigorous drug testing regimen set up, especially 0:05:37.760 --> 0:05:41.359 to ensure that Johnny was clean at this pivotal moment. 0:05:42.040 --> 0:05:44.800 I knew Johnny's habits would be an issue, so I 0:05:44.880 --> 0:05:48.520 wanted proof he was drug free, the frustrated agent explained. 0:05:49.040 --> 0:05:52.039 But somehow, despite the tight structure put in place to 0:05:52.040 --> 0:05:56.960 support Johnny's success, a week before the scouting combine, he lapsed. 0:05:58.040 --> 0:06:01.159 Johnny attended a party in Hollywood, and the next morning 0:06:01.640 --> 0:06:04.200 it became clear to him and everyone on his team 0:06:04.240 --> 0:06:07.960 that he partied far too hard. Fearing that a positive 0:06:08.040 --> 0:06:10.679 drug test on the day of the combine could plummet 0:06:10.720 --> 0:06:13.560 his draft stock from a potential first round pick to 0:06:13.680 --> 0:06:19.760 possibly going undrafted altogether. Eric advised Johnny to skip the combine. 0:06:19.839 --> 0:06:24.039 Did Johnny listen though, Well, at this point I think 0:06:24.120 --> 0:06:27.800 you know the answer to that. Johnny was determined to 0:06:27.880 --> 0:06:32.680 attend the scouting combine and so backed into an impossible position. 0:06:33.600 --> 0:06:37.080 Eric put on his agent problem solving hat and devised 0:06:37.120 --> 0:06:40.840 a plan. And not just any plan. It was an 0:06:40.960 --> 0:06:46.640 absolute shocker. I called Johnny's parents, Paula Michelle, Eric admitted 0:06:46.680 --> 0:06:50.320 in the Netflix documentary years later. I said, you're checking 0:06:50.360 --> 0:06:53.360 yourself into the hospital, Paul with a heavy heart, so 0:06:53.400 --> 0:06:56.039 that Johnny can divert and come to the combine for 0:06:56.080 --> 0:06:59.520 twelve hours so that it doesn't look weird. We'll put 0:06:59.560 --> 0:07:01.920 him on a place to go see dad in the hospital. 0:07:02.560 --> 0:07:05.279 But this scheme was rejected by Johnny when he caught 0:07:05.279 --> 0:07:08.320 wind of it, and the troublesome quarterback took the situation 0:07:08.480 --> 0:07:12.240 into his own hands. According to Eric, Johnny came to 0:07:12.320 --> 0:07:14.720 him and said, I've been passing these tests at A 0:07:14.840 --> 0:07:17.360 and M for a while, and then he revealed, in 0:07:17.440 --> 0:07:21.360 a shocking confession of cheating, that it had actually been 0:07:21.440 --> 0:07:25.480 the Aggie's fourth string quarterback, providing clean urine samples for him. 0:07:25.520 --> 0:07:29.200 All along. Johnny had also picked up another trick that 0:07:29.320 --> 0:07:33.440 he could chug water and flush the toxins from his system. 0:07:33.800 --> 0:07:36.440 Since he could hardly take the fourth string Aggie's quarterback 0:07:36.480 --> 0:07:39.840 to the scouting combine without raising eyebrows, Johnny went for 0:07:39.880 --> 0:07:44.760 his ladder strategy. He crushed liquids and continued taking drug 0:07:44.840 --> 0:07:48.840 tests in Eric Burkhardt's room until the results were satisfactory 0:07:48.880 --> 0:07:53.480 to them. Both. Against all the odds, Johnny Manziel performed 0:07:53.520 --> 0:07:59.720 well at the NFL scouting combine, but there was the 0:08:00.040 --> 0:08:04.280 constant churn of self inflicted challenge around Johnny Manziel by 0:08:04.280 --> 0:08:08.680 this time, and so it was sadly no surprise to 0:08:08.720 --> 0:08:11.720 anyone that the relief of getting through the scouting combine 0:08:12.040 --> 0:08:16.960 was short lived. Eric Burkhardt, who frankly sounds like the 0:08:17.000 --> 0:08:20.680 most committed agent going, had arranged a private workout for 0:08:20.760 --> 0:08:23.400 his client with the Cleveland Browns coaches at Texas A 0:08:23.440 --> 0:08:26.560 and M's indoor facility to give Johnny a chance to 0:08:26.600 --> 0:08:30.600 flex his skills for the pros. But was Johnny appreciative 0:08:30.680 --> 0:08:34.920 of his agent's efforts. Nope. Imagine the morning when it 0:08:34.960 --> 0:08:38.200 was time for the private workout, and the receiver's schedule 0:08:38.280 --> 0:08:43.040 to work with Johnny Manziel were no shows. Why because 0:08:43.120 --> 0:08:46.199 the dinner in College Station with the Cleveland Browns executives 0:08:46.240 --> 0:08:49.160 the night before had gotten out of hand, with Johnny 0:08:49.240 --> 0:08:52.760 himself at the heart of the celebrations. By the time 0:08:52.800 --> 0:08:55.320 everyone was due to meet up for the private practice 0:08:55.320 --> 0:08:58.760 the next morning, one receiver was missing and another one 0:08:58.840 --> 0:09:02.480 was so drunk he could get up. Johnny, who was 0:09:02.600 --> 0:09:05.640 used to playing after partying, did show up, but his 0:09:05.720 --> 0:09:09.520 opportunity to demonstrate his abilities with the Cleveland Browns coaches 0:09:09.760 --> 0:09:13.920 was scuppered. It was Easter weekend, so literally nobody was 0:09:13.960 --> 0:09:16.440 on campus, and the workout was at A and m's 0:09:16.480 --> 0:09:21.120 indoor facility. In the previous night's haze, somehow, Johnny also 0:09:21.280 --> 0:09:25.480 lost his bag. Eric Burkhardt tweeted later detailing the chaos 0:09:25.520 --> 0:09:29.640 of the day. Without cleats or proper attire, Johnny and 0:09:29.679 --> 0:09:34.360 his support team faced an almost comical predicament. Keep in mind, 0:09:34.960 --> 0:09:38.200 we had just negotiated the largest shoe deal ever in 0:09:38.240 --> 0:09:41.480 the history of the NFL pre draft with Nike. Eric 0:09:41.520 --> 0:09:46.280 at it, emphasizing the irony of the situation. We had 0:09:46.320 --> 0:09:50.640 a whole Johnny football line with royalties, etc. And still 0:09:50.800 --> 0:09:55.280 couldn't manage to get dressed properly. With the workout looming 0:09:55.320 --> 0:09:58.800 at eight am, two Aggie receivers as no shows thanks 0:09:58.840 --> 0:10:01.960 to their night out with Johnny and no possibility to 0:10:02.000 --> 0:10:06.240 buy new gear in time, desperation led to drastic measures. 0:10:06.920 --> 0:10:09.280 The equipment staff and coaches were out of town for 0:10:09.360 --> 0:10:12.800 Eastern so we literally had to break into the equipment 0:10:12.880 --> 0:10:15.280 cage at A and M with like a tire iron. 0:10:15.400 --> 0:10:20.280 Eric revealed. Then Johnny ended up wearing oversized Adidas cleats 0:10:20.400 --> 0:10:23.200 and tiny A and M shorts that he had worn 0:10:23.280 --> 0:10:26.320 under his genes the night before as Eric and Johnny's 0:10:26.360 --> 0:10:31.199 attorney stood in for the missing NFL receivers. This frenzied 0:10:31.280 --> 0:10:37.240 situation at yet another future determining event perfectly encapsulated the 0:10:37.400 --> 0:10:41.520 unpredictable and often have hazard nature of Johnny Manzel's journey 0:10:41.559 --> 0:10:45.360 to the NFL, characterized by his immense talent on the 0:10:45.400 --> 0:10:50.679 field and his equally immense challenges off it. The private session, 0:10:51.040 --> 0:10:54.640 although far from conventional, was viewed by the Cleveland Browns 0:10:54.679 --> 0:10:57.600 executives and highlighted the links to which his team would 0:10:57.640 --> 0:11:00.960 go to keep his professional dreams on track in spite 0:11:01.000 --> 0:11:06.559 of Johnny himself. As the date of the NFL Draft 0:11:06.640 --> 0:11:11.080 drew ever nearer, the spotlight on Johnny Manziel grew increasingly intense. 0:11:11.640 --> 0:11:15.080 His every move was scrutinized not just by the media 0:11:15.160 --> 0:11:19.360 now but by potential NFL teams. In twenty fourteen, with 0:11:19.480 --> 0:11:23.960 the Houston Texans holding the coveted first overall pick, speculations 0:11:24.080 --> 0:11:27.400 surged around whether Johnny Manziel could be selected to continue 0:11:27.400 --> 0:11:31.160 his football career in his home state of Texas. His 0:11:31.320 --> 0:11:35.400 lone star fans certainly wanted to keep him around. In fact, 0:11:35.800 --> 0:11:39.440 one Influentio Texas Han m fan even commissioned a billboard 0:11:39.520 --> 0:11:43.240 in the Houston area encouraging the Houston Texans said draft 0:11:43.280 --> 0:11:47.120 Johnny with the first pick. The billboard read keep Johnny 0:11:47.160 --> 0:11:51.600 football in Texas, and initially it seemed as though the 0:11:51.679 --> 0:11:55.760 fans would have their way. Interactions between Johnny Manziel and 0:11:55.800 --> 0:11:59.920 the Houston Texans began positively. Johnny was pulling out all 0:12:00.000 --> 0:12:02.200 all the stops to make a good impression with his 0:12:02.320 --> 0:12:07.880 top pick. He even participated in an uncharacteristically drama free 0:12:07.920 --> 0:12:11.360 manner at a major charity event at the river Oaks 0:12:11.400 --> 0:12:15.280 Country Club in Houston. The Texans owner, Bob McNair and 0:12:15.360 --> 0:12:19.200 his wife Janis were likely impressed to see Johnny contributing 0:12:19.240 --> 0:12:21.800 his own money to the charity. In the words of 0:12:21.880 --> 0:12:27.040 Johnny's agent, Eric, the event was a phenomenal success. But 0:12:27.320 --> 0:12:31.120 in typical Johnny Manziel fashion, this momentum in the right 0:12:31.200 --> 0:12:34.440 direction came to an abrupt halt the very next day 0:12:34.960 --> 0:12:39.320 when he exercised grossly inappropriate behavior on the river Oaks 0:12:39.360 --> 0:12:43.560 country Club golf course. Johnny recounted receiving the call that 0:12:43.600 --> 0:12:48.760 would significantly dampen Johnny's prospects with the Texans. The next day, 0:12:48.800 --> 0:12:51.400 I get a call, Eric's shared in the Netflix documentary. 0:12:52.280 --> 0:12:55.480 They said Johnny was golfing today at river Oaks Country Club, 0:12:55.640 --> 0:12:58.079 and it got back to the owner's family that Johnny 0:12:58.480 --> 0:13:03.160 by whole five, taking his shirt off, looked intoxicated and 0:13:03.200 --> 0:13:06.320 broke multiple clubs over his knee and threw them in 0:13:06.320 --> 0:13:11.199 the pond. There goes Houston, is what I thought. Johnny's 0:13:11.200 --> 0:13:16.720 long suffering agent sure had his work cut out for him. 0:13:17.920 --> 0:13:20.959 The dream of Johnny Manziel being drafted first overall by 0:13:20.960 --> 0:13:25.280 the Houston Texans was over. The franchise's owner, Bob McNair 0:13:25.320 --> 0:13:29.720 explained to ESPN exactly why he decided to pass on Johnny, saying, 0:13:30.080 --> 0:13:33.320 I knew with Manziel that would be a frenzy long term. 0:13:33.360 --> 0:13:35.840 We had questions as to how well he'd fit in 0:13:35.840 --> 0:13:39.360 our system doing what we wanted to do, and so 0:13:40.040 --> 0:13:43.720 with Houston now definitely off the table, Johnny and Eric 0:13:43.800 --> 0:13:47.680 turned their attention to other options. What other NFL teams 0:13:47.720 --> 0:13:51.240 needed a quarterback refresh and how could they best set 0:13:51.280 --> 0:13:56.640 the stage for a now uncertain draft day strategy dictated 0:13:56.679 --> 0:13:59.760 that the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Cleveland Browns would be 0:14:00.600 --> 0:14:03.679 for picking up Johnny. These teams held the third and 0:14:03.840 --> 0:14:07.920 fourth overall picks, respectively, and both franchises were in desperate 0:14:07.960 --> 0:14:12.000 need of a quarterback to revitalize their squads. Additionally, the 0:14:12.040 --> 0:14:15.480 Oakland Raiders with the fifth pick, and the Minnesota Vikings, 0:14:15.480 --> 0:14:18.040 who held the eighth pick, were also in the mix. 0:14:18.679 --> 0:14:22.640 The air was thick with speculation, with fans and analysts 0:14:22.640 --> 0:14:26.480 making predictions and placing bets on where Johnny Football might land, 0:14:27.520 --> 0:14:30.480 But as the draft kicked off, it quickly became clear 0:14:30.480 --> 0:14:34.520 that the concerns about Johnny's off field behavior and uncertainty 0:14:34.520 --> 0:14:37.360 about his transition to the NFL was causing his stock 0:14:37.440 --> 0:14:41.800 to slip. One by one. Teams passed on the opportunity 0:14:41.880 --> 0:14:46.280 to draft him, opting instead for players with less risk attached. 0:14:46.920 --> 0:14:49.800 The tension in the draft room was palpable as the 0:14:49.840 --> 0:14:56.320 picks ticked by, with Johnny's name conspicuously unmentioned. The weight 0:14:56.440 --> 0:14:59.880 stretched on for over three hours. It was an agon 0:15:00.520 --> 0:15:03.760 period for Johnny Manzil, who had entered the draft with 0:15:03.880 --> 0:15:07.840 hopes of a top pick. Finally, a pivotal moment came 0:15:08.000 --> 0:15:11.760 that would change the course of the evening. Cleveland Brown's 0:15:11.800 --> 0:15:16.000 quarterbacks coach Dowell Loggins later revealed after the draft in 0:15:16.040 --> 0:15:19.680 a radio interview on Sports Talk with Bo Mattingly that 0:15:19.800 --> 0:15:23.120 a message came to him directly from Johnny and made 0:15:23.200 --> 0:15:27.560 all the difference. As Johnny saw himself sliding down the 0:15:27.680 --> 0:15:31.680 draft board, he texted coach Dowell Loggins, I wish you 0:15:31.760 --> 0:15:34.720 guys would come get me. Hurry up and draft me, 0:15:34.800 --> 0:15:38.800 because I want to wreck this league together. This message, 0:15:39.080 --> 0:15:43.600 infused with Johnny's characteristic boldness and desire to make an impact, 0:15:44.160 --> 0:15:50.000 resonated strongly. Coach Loggins, moved by Johnny's enthusiasm, quickly forwarded 0:15:50.040 --> 0:15:52.440 the message to the rest of the Cleveland Browns staff 0:15:52.440 --> 0:15:56.040 and administration. When I got that text, I forwarded to 0:15:56.080 --> 0:15:59.160 the owner, Jimmy Haslam, and to the head coach, Mike Petton. 0:15:59.600 --> 0:16:03.240 I'm like, this guy wants to be here, he wants 0:16:03.280 --> 0:16:05.920 to be part of it. As soon as that happened, 0:16:06.360 --> 0:16:09.840 mister Haslam said, pull the trigger. We're trading up to 0:16:09.880 --> 0:16:14.120 get this guy, And just like that, Johnny Manziel had 0:16:14.240 --> 0:16:19.360 once again put himself back in play. The Cleveland Browns, 0:16:19.400 --> 0:16:23.040 a team that had historically struggled with quarterback stability, saw 0:16:23.040 --> 0:16:26.480 in Johnny Manziel not just a talented player, but that 0:16:26.600 --> 0:16:30.160 spark of potential brilliance that could turn their fortune around. 0:16:30.760 --> 0:16:33.200 After all, the Cleveland Browns were one of only four 0:16:33.240 --> 0:16:36.520 teams never to appear in a Super Bowl, a drought 0:16:36.600 --> 0:16:41.280 of decades. Driven by Johnny Manziel's eagerness and maybe their 0:16:41.320 --> 0:16:44.720 own desperation, the Browns moved up four spots to select 0:16:44.760 --> 0:16:48.120 Johnny at number twenty two, deciding to take the plunge 0:16:48.240 --> 0:16:50.920 and bring into their fold the player who promised to 0:16:51.120 --> 0:16:56.960 quote wreck the league. The immediate impact of Johnny Manziel's 0:16:56.960 --> 0:17:01.280 selection was nothing short of explosive. Within just twenty five 0:17:01.320 --> 0:17:04.200 minutes of announcing his draft, the Cleveland Browns had sold 0:17:04.240 --> 0:17:07.960 two hundred new season tickets and seen an additional three 0:17:08.040 --> 0:17:12.360 hundred renewals. The excitement was palpable, as the team vice 0:17:12.440 --> 0:17:15.320 president shared that the phones were ringing off the hook, 0:17:15.720 --> 0:17:20.119 signaling a surge of renewed interest and optimism among the 0:17:20.160 --> 0:17:24.480 Cleveland Browns fan base. Meanwhile, the buzz spread to social media, 0:17:24.760 --> 0:17:27.879 where another Browns executive posted a photo of the newly 0:17:28.000 --> 0:17:31.359 minted Johnny Manzil jerseys now available at the team shop, 0:17:31.840 --> 0:17:34.720 ready for eager fans looking to don the number of 0:17:34.760 --> 0:17:39.040 their new quarterback. This whirlwind of activity underscored the high 0:17:39.119 --> 0:17:43.879 hopes and high stakes accompanying Johnny's arrival in Cleveland. Given 0:17:43.920 --> 0:17:47.119 his history, this high level of pressure on Johnny was 0:17:47.359 --> 0:17:53.360 never likely to end well. Okay, get hydrated and brace yourself, 0:17:53.440 --> 0:17:56.240 because we're about to take a wild ride on Johnny 0:17:56.240 --> 0:18:01.040 Manziel's roller coaster NFL career enter the league with a 0:18:01.160 --> 0:18:04.119 chip on his shoulder and an on field reputation to 0:18:04.200 --> 0:18:07.359 defend the long wait on draft day and slide to 0:18:07.400 --> 0:18:10.360 the twenty second overall pick. Had been humbling for Johnny, 0:18:10.640 --> 0:18:14.360 who was accustomed to fanfare and adulation from his college 0:18:14.400 --> 0:18:18.080 station fans at Texas A and M. In fact, Johnny 0:18:18.119 --> 0:18:20.879 told the press that he would remember the teams that 0:18:21.000 --> 0:18:23.840 did not pick him. I'm going to take a very 0:18:23.920 --> 0:18:27.560 aggressive mindset into it, Johnny said. I'm going to work 0:18:27.600 --> 0:18:30.320 extremely hard to get what I want, and I know 0:18:30.440 --> 0:18:33.240 what that is. I want to win and I want 0:18:33.280 --> 0:18:36.200 to be successful. The amount of time I put in 0:18:36.280 --> 0:18:38.439 and the heart I put into this, which I know 0:18:38.560 --> 0:18:42.720 I'm capable of doing, will tell the tale. But can 0:18:42.760 --> 0:18:47.560 a tiger ever really change its stripes? Johnny's bumpy draft 0:18:47.600 --> 0:18:51.040 experience had set the tone for his NFL career. Things 0:18:51.040 --> 0:18:54.080 were off to a rocky start, and the drama was 0:18:54.359 --> 0:18:58.440 just beginning. As Johnny suited up in brown and orange 0:18:58.440 --> 0:19:02.080 for Cleveland, the excitement and optimism that heralded his arrival 0:19:02.600 --> 0:19:06.880 soon gave way to the stark realities of NFL life. 0:19:07.000 --> 0:19:10.080 His time with the Cleveland Browns was characterized by a 0:19:10.119 --> 0:19:13.959 series of ups and downs that mirrored his tumultuous tenure 0:19:14.000 --> 0:19:17.560 at Texas A and M. Initially, the franchise and its 0:19:17.560 --> 0:19:21.280 fans hoped that Johnny's dynamic abilities could translate into a 0:19:21.359 --> 0:19:25.240 revitalizing force for a team in desperate need of a turnaround, 0:19:25.880 --> 0:19:30.080 but not all college stars translate to knockout professional athletes, 0:19:30.480 --> 0:19:34.080 and Johnny's rookie season was a mixture of brief flashes 0:19:34.119 --> 0:19:38.040 of potential coupled with struggles both on and off the field. 0:19:39.000 --> 0:19:42.600 Within months of his NFL debut, Johnny was fined twelve 0:19:42.680 --> 0:19:45.440 thousand dollars by the NFL for giving the middle finger 0:19:45.560 --> 0:19:49.399 to the Washington Redskins bench during a preseason game. But 0:19:49.720 --> 0:19:54.000 perhaps more worrying for the Cleveland Browns was that Johnny's 0:19:54.040 --> 0:19:59.960 improvisational playing style, while electrifying in college, faced different hurdles 0:20:00.000 --> 0:20:03.960 in the structured environment of professional football, and their new 0:20:04.040 --> 0:20:07.439 recruit wasn't putting in the work required to level up 0:20:07.480 --> 0:20:11.760 his skills. Several sources within the team indicated that Johnny 0:20:11.760 --> 0:20:16.320 Manziel struggled with the basics of play calling. On multiple occasions, 0:20:16.480 --> 0:20:18.840 he seemed not to know the plays in the huddle 0:20:19.000 --> 0:20:23.040 or didn't call them correctly, raising concerns about his grasp 0:20:23.160 --> 0:20:26.480 of the playbook. Johnny's off the cuff playing style was 0:20:26.520 --> 0:20:30.640 simply not working in the NFL, and despite Johnny's pledge 0:20:30.680 --> 0:20:33.800 to do everything he could to succeed. It was soon 0:20:33.960 --> 0:20:37.760 clear that these were empty words. After all, the bare 0:20:37.840 --> 0:20:40.400 minimum for a quarterback in the NFL is to learn 0:20:40.440 --> 0:20:46.920 the playbook. Don't you think one of the responsibilities of 0:20:47.040 --> 0:20:50.520 NFL players is to tackle a fundamental aspect of professional 0:20:50.600 --> 0:20:55.440 football film study. Film study in football is a crucial 0:20:55.560 --> 0:20:58.760 practice that allows players and coaches to gain a competitive 0:20:58.840 --> 0:21:04.080 edge in game. Footage helps players to understand opponents tendencies, 0:21:04.520 --> 0:21:11.320 recognize formations, and anticipate plays. It's absolutely necessary for professional 0:21:11.320 --> 0:21:15.600 players to engage in this minimum requirement. Yet, in a 0:21:15.720 --> 0:21:19.919 revealing insight from the Netflix documentary about Johnny's career, his 0:21:20.040 --> 0:21:24.840 agent Eric Burkhardt, disclosed it while in Cleveland, Johnny never studied. 0:21:25.400 --> 0:21:29.840 I mean he never watched tape ever. Not a game, 0:21:30.080 --> 0:21:34.760 not a play, not a second nothing. By comparison, some 0:21:34.800 --> 0:21:37.560 of the greatest NFL quarterbacks of all time, players like 0:21:37.880 --> 0:21:41.639 Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, and Patrick Mahomes, are renowned for 0:21:41.720 --> 0:21:46.639 their ferocious film study habits. Johnny's utter lack of effort 0:21:46.720 --> 0:21:50.680 drove the Cleveland Browns management to intervene. The GM called 0:21:50.680 --> 0:21:53.880 me and said, he's not watching tape. Eric recounted. When 0:21:54.000 --> 0:21:56.760 Eric pressed the GM for more details, asking if Johnny 0:21:56.840 --> 0:21:59.439 had even spent a minimal amount of time on this 0:21:59.520 --> 0:22:04.280 crucial task, the reply was stark. Eric, the GM said, 0:22:04.359 --> 0:22:09.480 his iPad hours is zero point zero zero. How was 0:22:09.560 --> 0:22:12.480 super Agent Eric supposed to mitigate the fallout from this 0:22:12.560 --> 0:22:16.600 latest bombshell? He could hardly contest the Cleveland Brown's report. 0:22:17.320 --> 0:22:19.960 After all, the team had provided Johnny with an iPad 0:22:20.080 --> 0:22:23.440 loaded with game film, which also allowed coaches to track 0:22:23.480 --> 0:22:27.320 his engagement. The tool didn't lie, and so backed into 0:22:27.359 --> 0:22:31.639 a corner. Neither did Johnny. When asked directly about the 0:22:31.680 --> 0:22:35.639 time he spent on film study, Johnny simply stated zero. 0:22:36.640 --> 0:22:40.520 Only thirty two individuals in the world earned starting quarterback 0:22:40.560 --> 0:22:44.600 positions each week. How infuriating to hear from one of 0:22:44.600 --> 0:22:48.840 those talented, immensely lucky few that maintaining such a big 0:22:48.920 --> 0:22:52.960 dream wasn't worth even a small effort. But we've all 0:22:53.000 --> 0:22:55.440 heard the saying you get out what you put in, 0:22:55.800 --> 0:23:01.200 and Johnny Manziel was in for a rude awakening. Johnny's 0:23:01.200 --> 0:23:04.680 twenty fourteen NFL season with the Cleveland Browns was lackluster. 0:23:05.240 --> 0:23:08.720 He played in five games, started in two and clearly 0:23:08.840 --> 0:23:12.920 struggled with the professional level of play. He completed eighteen 0:23:12.960 --> 0:23:15.480 of thirty five passes for a total of one hundred 0:23:15.520 --> 0:23:21.200 and seventy five yards, threw no touchdowns, and was intercepted twice. Additionally, 0:23:21.520 --> 0:23:24.159 he was sacked three times and rushed for a total 0:23:24.200 --> 0:23:28.320 of just twenty nine yards or nine attempts ouch. His 0:23:28.440 --> 0:23:31.960 performance was definitely not living up to the spectacle of 0:23:32.000 --> 0:23:36.600 the Aggies legendary Johnny football. In fact, another Cleveland Browns 0:23:36.640 --> 0:23:41.119 player anonymously told ESPN that Johnny's entire twenty fourteen season 0:23:41.400 --> 0:23:46.439 was one hundred percent joke. This blood assessment echoed broader 0:23:46.480 --> 0:23:50.840 concerns within the Cleveland Browns organization about Johnny Manziel's technical 0:23:50.920 --> 0:23:55.080 readiness for a professional football and Johnny's off field behavior 0:23:55.280 --> 0:24:01.240 was once again only adding to the franchise's concerns. As 0:24:01.320 --> 0:24:04.959 Sports Business journal reporter John Oran put it to NPR 0:24:05.080 --> 0:24:10.440 reporter David Green, Johnny Manziel has been photographed partying everywhere 0:24:10.440 --> 0:24:14.280 from Las Vegas to bartending at a nightclub in Austin, Texas. 0:24:15.080 --> 0:24:18.159 If you play on an NFL team, people want you 0:24:18.240 --> 0:24:21.880 to play inside the lines. They don't like anybody that's 0:24:21.920 --> 0:24:25.480 a swashbuckler that does anything that could potentially be a distraction. 0:24:26.119 --> 0:24:32.520 Johnny Manziel was both distracted and a distraction. Cleveland dot 0:24:32.560 --> 0:24:35.800 Com captured the essence of Johnny Manziel's behavior at this time. 0:24:36.200 --> 0:24:39.840 Writing at the NFL Rookie Symposium in Los Angeles in May, 0:24:40.359 --> 0:24:44.000 just weeks after the draft, Johnny Manziel crawled under a 0:24:44.040 --> 0:24:47.200 skirted table and took a nap during an autograph session 0:24:47.200 --> 0:24:50.800 with potential sponsors after a night out with Rapper Drake 0:24:50.880 --> 0:24:56.840 and friends. From there, the Progressive Party traveled to Las Vegas, Austin, Texas, 0:24:57.160 --> 0:25:01.600 and back to Los Angeles. It included Johnny's infamous intoxicated 0:25:01.640 --> 0:25:05.359 float on an inflatable swan, making it rain in the club, 0:25:05.840 --> 0:25:08.840 shouting an F bomb into his money foam with bleary eyes, 0:25:09.359 --> 0:25:12.600 a visit to Justin Bieber's house with Floyd Mayweather and friends, 0:25:12.760 --> 0:25:17.120 and more. But the photo the Cleveland Browns found most alarming, 0:25:17.320 --> 0:25:20.600 a source told Northeast Ohio Media Group, was the one 0:25:20.640 --> 0:25:22.560 in which he was rolling up a bill in the 0:25:22.600 --> 0:25:26.720 bathroom of a bar on July seventh, twenty fourteen, that 0:25:26.920 --> 0:25:33.040 set the alarm bells off. A disaster was brewing, perhaps 0:25:33.160 --> 0:25:36.880 recognizing he had a serious personal and public image problem, 0:25:37.240 --> 0:25:40.840 Johnny Manziel at last took a significant step by entering 0:25:40.920 --> 0:25:44.560 a rehab facility at the start of twenty fifteen. This 0:25:44.760 --> 0:25:48.040 decision appeared to mark a turning point and was publicly 0:25:48.119 --> 0:25:52.640 supported by the Cleveland Browns organization. Coach Mike Patton directly 0:25:52.680 --> 0:25:57.000 expressed his support, emphasizing the priority of Johnny Manziel's personal 0:25:57.080 --> 0:26:01.040 recovery over football. For his football to get where it 0:26:01.080 --> 0:26:04.200 needs to be, he needs to get the personal life 0:26:04.240 --> 0:26:08.280 where it needs to be. Coach Petton said this takes precedence, 0:26:08.320 --> 0:26:11.439 so however much time he needs, the football will be 0:26:11.600 --> 0:26:15.240 there when he gets out. The move to enter rehab 0:26:15.320 --> 0:26:17.960 was seen as an attempt by Johnny Manziel to confront 0:26:17.960 --> 0:26:21.640 his issues head on, acknowledging the impact of his actions 0:26:21.640 --> 0:26:25.679 on his professional obligations and personal life. It should have 0:26:25.760 --> 0:26:29.480 been a period of introspection and recovery, but was it. 0:26:33.600 --> 0:26:36.320