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While the party lifestyle of one Johnathan Paul Manziel certainly contributed to his downfall as an NFL quarterback, in a new interview Browns Pro Bowl tackle Joe Thomas revealed the real reasons why he thinks Manziel’s NFL career crashed and burned.
Amazingly, Thomas doesn’t believe Manziel’s use of alcohol or any other illicit activities were the main culprits for his demise.
“I love Johnny, he’s a great person, he’s friendly, he’s a lot of fun,” said Thomas. “And I think that’s probably a big part of his struggles in the NFL is he has so many friends, he has so many people that want to be with him and want to hang out with him and that detracts from his focus on being a quarterback. And to be an NFL quarterback you have to be so obsessed and committed to the game that you almost have no time in your life for a little bit of family and the rest of it is being a quarterback. That’s a commitment that few people are willing to make, it’s almost a commitment above a level of a coach, but if you can’t have that level of commitment you almost can’t succeed in the NFL as a quarterback.”
This from a guy who I’m pretty sure he knows what it takes to be a success since he was the third pick in the 2007 NFL Draft and has been selected to the Pro Bowl every season since.
Thomas also said that an NFL quarterback almost needs to have coaches’ hours when it comes to preparation, preparing from six in the morning to 11 at night. Something tells me that there was no way JFF was down with that kind of program.
Check out the rest of the fascinating interview below…
H/T Terez Owens
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