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It’s been a long, strange trip for Johnny Manziel, who was once a highly-touted prospect before suffering the worst fate known to mankind: being drafted as a quarterback for the Browns.
While it appears Baker Mayfield has reversed the curse, Johnny Football fell victim to his own devices and found it difficult to leave his hard-partying ways behind him (in fairness, I’d also probably drink excessively and do a ton of drugs if I had to live in Cleveland).
Manziel was eventually released by the Browns and has been attempting to reinvent himself ever since. After being rejected by the CFL in 2017, he was eventually cleared to play in the league last year but #ComebackSZN hit a bit of a snag when he found himself banned for violating an agreement he’d signed.
Since then, Manziel has had a bit of a rough go. His wife ended up leaving him last month shortly after he signed a deal with the AAF, and when the league imploded virtually overnight, he was once again facing an uncertain future as he figures out what his next moves are going to be.
However, it looks like a rebranding is currently in the works.
According to TMZ, the quarterback chatted with Dan Patrick on Monday and dropped a bombshell on the world when he revealed he’s dropping the “-ny” from his name and going by plain ol’ “John.”
Whoa.
Manziel has appeared to mature at least a little bit in the past couple of years so I can understand why he’d want to go with a more grown-up moniker.
With that said, “John Manziel” sounds like the name of a car salesman with a firm handshake who says “Darn glad to meet ya!” whenever he’s introduced to someone. John Manziel wears zip-off pants to the golf course in case he needs to play his ball out of the water. John Manziel has gone to multiple Train concerts.
Regardless of how you feel about the change, the rest of the interview was actually pretty informative, as The Artist Formerly Known as Johnny shed some light on his time in the CFL and tried to explain why things didn’t work out, saying:
“I was so hungry to get back on the field and start playing, I took the first chance I could….
“When I looked up a year later, things weren’t exactly what I thought they’d be. When I signed in Hamilton with June Jones I thought it would be like a Colt Brennan Hawaii highlight film…
“No regrets, it’s just one of the chapters I’ve closed the book on and moving forward now.”
While his stint in the AAF might have been short-lived, Manziel also said it helped him reset a bit:
“Memphis was exactly what I needed in my life. First day being on the field with 11 men the game slowed down, it was perfect for me.”
I for one am very ready for #ComebackFromComebackSZN.