Can Johnny Manziel Afford Another Screwup?
The hard partying, free throwing NFL quarterback is a professional sports archetype typified by players such as Joe Namath, Ken Stabler and Jim McMahon. Johnny Manziel has looked like he’s trying to join their elite group with his off field antics. There’s only one problem–they all won on Sunday’s and have Super Bowl rings. Manziel has a 1-4 record as a NFL starter and it looks as if the Cleveland Browns have run out of patience with him and his booze fueled behavior. Manziel is back in the starting role for now, but it could very well be his last chance.
On Wednesday, Browns’ head coach Mike Pettine didn’t explicitly say that one screwup would be the last straw but did imply it strongly: “[It’s] hard to put things in a vacuum. I don’t want to sit here and say, ‘Look at the degree of discipline.’ It’s hard to say we have a zero-tolerance policy. If something were to occur, I imagine the repercussions would be harsh.”
Pettine also accepted some of the blame on behalf of the Browns organization–he suggested that the team didn’t know that Manziel was such a big lush: “You see the reputation, what was out there. I don’t think we anticipated that his problems, his issues, how deep-rooted they were, the extent of it.”
The coach also brought up the question of maturity and the difficulty in determining which college players have the mindset for a NFL career:
“You have to decide how much of this is maturity. Is it early in college career? Is it continuing? You do as much as you can.”
Here’s where it gets more interesting–there are rumors and speculation afoot that Manziel will emerge as the new starting quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys. The Cowboys need a quarterback for the long term with Tony Romo entering his late 30’s and deteriorating physically. Manziel is a local product who actually might take his role as a starter more seriously if he was wearing the star on the side of his helmet. It’s a low risk/high reward option for the Cowboys–they’d be able to get Manziel for next to nothing and hope that his attitude one day matches his talent.