Johnny Manziel’s life is crashing and burning right before our eyes.
It feels like we’re watching a real life episode of the HBO television show “Ballers” play out. To hear his father, Paul Manziel, tell ESPN that he hopes his son “goes to jail” because it was the best thing for him was simply heartbreaking and brutal, but it did not come as a shock.
I can imagine the pain Johnny must feel, to hear the one person that’s supposed to be in his corner no matter what give up on him. It’s sad that a parent has watch his child grow up and become a complete trainwreck of a human being, but his family probably saw this coming a long time ago.
Back in 2013, Paul Manziel told ESPN the magazine, “it could come unraveled. And when it does, it’s gonna be bad. Real bad.”
He went on to say: “It’s one night away from the phone ringing, and he’s in jail. And you know what he’s gonna say? ‘It’s better than all the pressure I’ve been under. This is better than that.’”
We all know how electrifying of a player Manziel was in college, and he is just as electrifying as a person.
When Manziel first entered the league, he was surrounded by celebrities — in both the sports and pop world. LeBron James, Drake and Justin Bieber were just a few people in his circle.
Back in 2013, Drake told ESPN’s First Take that he advised Manziel to have more “discipline” than most people and keep the “bigger picture” in mind, but it didn’t work.
Bob Hinton, who was tasked with the job of being Johnny’s defense attorney for his domestic violence case, “accidently” sent a text message to the Associated Press saying, “Heaven help us if one of the conditions is to pee in a bottle.” Hinton has also resigned and given up on Johnny.
James even tried to be a mentor of the supposed savior of the Cleveland Browns football franchise, but that didn’t work out too well either. When Manziel was drafted, he signed with LRMR Management Group, which is a marketing agency owned by James.
But James slowly distanced himself from the troubled gunslinger in January, when his marketing agency LRMR cut all ties with “Johnny Football,” reportedly because of his off-field issues.
“It’s a distraction, not only for himself, but for everyone that’s around him, including family, people that represent him, James told USA Today back in January.
Manziel is sort of like the one friend that’s really cool, down to earth and funny, until you party with him one night and see a behavior that makes you say to yourself “what the hell is this guy doing,” and you never want to hang out with them again.
The friends in his circle saw the person he was becoming and have ultimately disappeared once they realized who he was.
Often people would question how a barely 6-foot tall Heisman Trophy winning quarterback would make it in the National Football League. What people should’ve questioned is how his habitual partying would translate into the NFL.
Joshua Thornton is a 21-year-old communications studies senior from Jacksonville, Florida.