Manziel’s high profile hasn’t been on the field
Quarterback Johnny Manziel, acquired by the Montreal Alouettes in a trade with the Hamilton TigerCats on Sunday night, is one of the most recognizable and well-known professional athletes of this generation.
But Manziel, 25, has gained the majority of his notoriety for his offfield controversies.
Born in Tyler, Texas, the sixfoot, 210-pounder became the first freshman to win the Heisman Trophy — awarded annually to the top U.S. college football player — in 2012 while playing at Texas A&M. In two seasons with he Aggies, he passed for 7,820 yards and 63 touchdowns.
He was a first-round selection (No. 22 overall) by the Cleveland Browns in the 2014 National Football League draft, but struggled with his consistency over two seasons. He dressed for 15 games, including eight starts, and had a 2-6 record for the struggling team. Manziel completed 147 of 258 passes for 1,675 yards during that span, along with seven touchdowns. He was also intercepted seven times before being released by the team after the 2015 season.
This year, Manziel revealed he is battling bipolar disorder — a mental disorder that causes periods of depression and abnormally elevated moods — and is undergoing treatment.
He has been involved in numerous off-field incidents and has sought treatment for alcohol abuse. In 2016, he was charged after allegedly striking and threatening a former girlfriend. He eventually reached an agreement with prosecutors to dismiss the case. During his sophomore high school season, Manziel was tagged with the nickname Johnny Football. He eventually applied for, and was granted, a registered trademark for the nickname in 2013. Following a protracted negotiation process, Manziel signed a two-year contract with Hamilton, which held his exclusive Canadian Football League negotiation rights, in May. But he had yet to play a regular-season game for the Ticats while backing up Jeremiah Masoli. In March, Manziel married model Bre Tiesi in a private ceremony at a California courthouse and said Tiesi has been a stabilizing force in his life. Manziel (@JManziel2) has 2.2 million followers on Twitter. hzurkowsky@postmedia.com twitter.com/HerbZurkowsky1