Johnny Manziel says his post-NFL life included a ‘strict diet of blow’ that caused dramatic weight loss

After Johnny Manziel got cut by the Cleveland Browns in March 2016, it quickly became clear that he had no plans on trying to make a return to the NFL with another team. Instead of looking for a new NFL job, Manziel went into party mode after he was released. 

During a recent interview on Shannon Sharpe’s “Club Shay Shay” podcast, Manziel revealed that he essentially went on a bender that lasted for several months. After being released, the former first-round pick spent a lot time in Las Vegas and during that time, he was mostly partying and doing drugs. 

“I was 210 pounds when I left Cleveland,” Manziel told Sharpe. “I was 170 pounds sitting in Vegas that August, that September, that October, whatever it was later in that year.”

Sharpe was shocked by the fact that Manziel was able to lose 40 pounds in just months, so he asked how him how he was able to pull it off. 

“How do you lose 40 pounds? You’re on a strict diet of blow,” Manziel said. 

At first, Manziel didn’t realize he was losing any weight, but that changed when he was able to weigh himself at a Vegas hotel. 

“At that point in time, I would look in a mirror and I didn’t see myself any different than when I was in Cleveland,” Manziel said. “Until I stepped on a scale at the Cosmopolitan Hotel in Las Vegas, I didn’t realize I had lost 40 pounds.”

Despite the dramatic weight loss, Manziel didn’t slow down: He continued to visit Vegas and he continued to party. 

“I remember these pictures came out,” Manziel said. “And I was like, ‘Damn. What am I doing? Whatever, we’ll figure that out later. Let’s go again.'”

Manziel’s actions off the field became a headache for the Browns, which is a big reason why he got released just two years into his contract. The first controversy came in 2014 when he got photographed in a bathroom before the start of his first training camp with the team. 

After a rookie season where he started just two games, things didn’t get any better in 2015. During the team’s regular-season finale, Manziel didn’t show up for the game; instead, he took a trip to Vegas. Although he wasn’t going to play — he had been ruled out with a concussion — the trip to Vegas was definitely a bad look. Also, he missed a mandatory treatment session that he was supposed to attend on Sunday after the game.

That trip to Vegas ended up being Manziel’s final one as a member of an NFL team. Just two months after the trip, the Browns decided to cut Manziel, and after that, he decided to take his partying ways back to Vegas where he would spend a good chunk of the next few months. 

During his interview with Sharpe, the 31-year-old said he’s now happy and he made it sound like his partying days are now behind him.