Johnny Manziel recounts troubles with Browns, says he watched ‘zero’ film during time in Cleveland

Johnny Manziel was a football phenomenon who will not soon be forgotten. From the quarterback’s incredible rise to fame at Texas A&M, to winning the Heisman Trophy, to his eventual fall from grace in the NFL, he captivated the sports world during the early 2010s.

This week, Netflix’s “Untold” series released an episode on “Johnny Football,” that gave fans a look behind the curtain on “Manziel Mania.” The Cleveland Browns selected Manziel with the No. 22 overall pick in the 2014 NFL Draft. However, he played just 14 games for the franchise in two years before being released after several off-field issues.

In the film, Manziel revealed that achieving his football dreams left him feeling empty inside. 

“Didn’t take me very long to be in Cleveland to find out that I wasn’t going to be happy there,” Manziel said. “I had every single thing that I could have ever wanted. You have money, you have fame, you’re a first-round draft pick battling for a starting quarterback position. And when I got everything that I wanted, I think I was the most empty that I’ve ever felt inside.”

During the early stages of his NFL career, Manziel would call his agent, Erik Burkhardt, and tell him football wasn’t fun anymore. Losing the love for the game obviously affected his study habits, because Manziel wasn’t watching any film. 

“Their GM’s calling me going, ‘He doesn’t watch tape,'” Burkhardt said. “I’m like, ‘Well he’s gotta watch some tape.’ He’s like, ‘EB, his iPad hours is 0.00.'”

Manziel confirmed he watched zero film: “Zero.”

The young quarterback was clearly fighting some demons, and the whirlwind that was his life and football career appeared to catch up with him in the NFL. 

“I would sit in my condo in Cleveland downtown and just feel like it was the only place that I could get away from everybody and anything,” Manziel said. “And I would look out those windows every day and I just felt empty. I went from one fishbowl city to another, and I wanted nothing to do with football I wanted nothing to do with stepping on that field. And I had bigger issues in my life than being able to go out and play free-spirited, flowing football. 

“I had gone from the whirlwind ride of 2012 in College Station, the Heisman Trophy, the Cotton Bowl, the NCAA investigation, straight into another season, into the NFL draft. I just didn’t get a break.”

Manziel went 2-6 as the starter in his NFL career, and completed 57% of his passes for 1,675 yards, seven touchdowns and seven interceptions to go along with 259 rushing yards and another score. As far as his football career goes, Manziel also spent some time in the Canadian Football League and the AAF.