Johnny Manziel is a Waste of Our Time
/Johnny Manziel was recently released from his CFL team, the Montreal Alouttes. This should not be surprising to anyone reading this. This kid clearly peaked in college. And, while he peaked with a Heisman trophy, I was wondering aloud to my dad earlier today, has there been a bigger waste of supposed talent in the NFL? I know about guys like Jamarcus Russell, Ryan Leaf, Steve Etmann, Tony Mandarich, the list could go on and on. But, these guys never won the Heisman. Some played in major bowl games, but never won the title. Some played in other big games, but they were often bested.
Manziel on the other hand was a blur when he was a sophomore at Texas A&M. I mean, I never liked him, but the dude was a very good read option QB. He made plays. He beat Alabama, and he was the youngest Heisman winner ever. He then tumbled in the NFL draft, due to questions about his off field activities, and landed in Cleveland.
This was when it all started to go downhill. He struggled to start over career backups. His teammates didn't seem to care much for him. His coaches seemed to have little faith in him. And his demons, alcoholism and never being told no, really started to creep up. When he did play, he was highly ineffective. He was too small to see over the line. He threw too many errant passes, many resulting in interceptions. He wasn't faster than most D lineman. And he just didn't seem to care about the game. He didn't put in the hours. He would rather party than hone his skills and make himself a better player. Again, this goes to his never being told no, and always being told that he was the best. He never had to struggle, until it was too late. At one point it seemed like he was, at least on the surface, trying to get help. But, he had already been cut by the Browns, and no other NFL wanted to touch him, for good reason. He was damaged goods, had bad off field problems and his play was lackluster.
After failing to be signed by any other NFL team, he spiraled again. I felt absolutely no sympathy for him. This was his second chance, and he totally blew it because he would rather drink alcohol and go to clubs. He did this all to himself. He made himself an unsignable free agent. His family tried to help, but he didn't even listen to them. Manziel is a selfish punk who never really learned his lesson, and he was finally paying for it.
Yet another chance came his way,. A few years back, the CFL wanted to give him a shot, what seemed to be his last. And, just like his rookie season in the NFL, he was bad. I believe in his first CFL game he threw 4 picks. He completed less than 50 percent of his passes. He only saw the field in blowouts. Watching him in the CFL was almost sad. Almost. This just further proved that he was never really an NFL caliber player. He was now in the CFL getting beat out by guys that were never even a thought as a NFL draft pick. And then he went and did something, it has not been confirmed exactly what, that not only voided his contract with the Alouttes, but with the entire CFL. He cannot play for a single team in that league. I mean, this dude won a Heisman, and he threw it all away when the going got tough for him. He finally had to prove himself, and instead, he just did something else that made him get cut. He shot himself in the foot again. He couldn't handle the fact that he is not as good as he thought.
Now, he is reaching out to the AAF, a league I do not think is viable, just to try and get a workout. That is rough. He has fallen so hard, so fast and I couldn't care less. He was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, never had to work hard until he was playing the game with guys better than him, and when that got too hard, he finds ways to get himself cut, but blame it on someone else.
Johnny Manziel is a waste of talent. He is a waste of a roster spot. And when he doesn't make an AAF team I will feel exactly nothing for him. Hell, I wouldn't even be surprised if he doesn't make it in the XFL. Johnny Manziel is now a footnote, and it is just going to get worse for him from here on out as long as he continues to screw up and try to play semi pro football. Johnny Manziel is a joke.
Ty
Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He used ot think of Johnny Clipboard being equivilant to a one hot wonder in music. Then he remembered that those musicians actually had a hit, and worked damn hard to get it.
Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.
SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.