Report: Manziel, Saints talked
NFL. com reported New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton and quarterback Johnny Manziel spoke about Manziel’s return to football over breakfast during Super Bowl week.
Manziel, 24, was cut by the Cleveland Browns in March 2016 because of his poor play, his legal issues and his litany of off- field distractions. He still hasn’t signed with a team and is facing a four- game suspension by the NFL when he returns for violating its substance- abuse policy.
The NFL still is reviewing Manziel’s domestic- violence case involving his former girlfriend, Colleen Crowley, which potentially might lead to an additional suspension. Manziel will have the misdemeanor charge dismissed, however, if he goes to anger- management classes and a substance- abuse program, among other condi- tions of the agreement.
On the field, Manziel threw for only 1,675 yards with seven touchdowns and seven interceptions in 14 games in two seasons. He also rushed for 259 yards and another touchdown. But he struggled making reads and remaining patient in the pocket, and his free- lancing abilities that made him so exciting in college never quite translated to the NFL level.
NFL targets certain hits
The NFL is prepared to eject and/ or suspend players for certain types of illegal hits in 2017, but league officials said they expect it to happen rarely, if at all.
‘‘ This is not a widespread situation,’’ said Atlanta Falcons president Rich McKay, the chairman of the NFL’s competition committee. ‘‘ This is a situation where there are certain plays in our game that we want to get out of the game, and we just want to make sure the players are put on notice that if these type of actions [ happen], then they could be subject to suspension.’’
NFL referees long have had the authority to eject players for what the rule book terms ‘‘ flagrant’’ incidents of unnecessary roughness, but rarely have they used it. ‘‘ Flagrant’’ is defined in the NFL rule book as ‘‘ extremely objectionable, conspicuous, unnecessary, avoidable or gratuitous.’’
NFL owners, general managers and coaches will gather next week in Phoenix for the annual league meetings. McKay said the committee will show a video containing four or five instances that could have resulted in ejections or suspensions last season.
Brady’s jerseys returned
Quarterback Tom Brady’s stolen Super Bowl jerseys are back with the New England Patriots. The FBI in Boston announced that jerseys worn by Brady during the 2017 and 2015 Super Bowls had been returned to Gillette Stadium.
Brady’s 2017 jersey went missing from the Patriots’ locker room after the team’s Super Bowl victory Feb. 5 against the Atlanta Falcons. That sparked an investigation stretching from Boston to the Mexican border.
Mexican authorities searched the property of tabloid journalist Martin Mauricio Ortega, where they found the jersey, along with a Brady jersey that disappeared after the 2015 Super Bowl. A Denver Broncos helmet also was recovered.