Just when we thought he was finally out, they’re pulling him back in.
Former Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel, a highly-talented player who preferred winging it to working, will have a documentary on Netflix. The effort was teased on Friday, and it created a stir.
It created a stir because everything about Manziel creates a stir. He won a Heisman Trophy at Texas A&M. He plummeted through the first round of the draft, until Browns owner Jimmy Haslam (acting on a tip from a homeless guy) made him the latest name on the back of that jersey -- until the next one.
Manziel spent two years with the Browns, starting eight total games before washing out of the league. He resurfaced in the CFL, playing for a pair of teams in 2018. That didn’t last. Then, he played in the AAF. Most recently, he spent time in Fan Controlled Football.
The documentary will be a must-watch event. And it will be interesting to see the approach, the perspective, and the agenda. Will it be Manziel making excuses and pointing fingers for his failures? Or will it be an objective, critical assessment of his own role in his inability to make it in the NFL, the CFL, or pretty much any other FL.
It’s a complicated story. Manziel was too immature to rise to the challenge of life in the NFL. Has he changed? That may be the best reason to watch.
As he closes in on his 30th birthday, if he hasn’t changed by now, he likely never will.