The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Team refutes report on Manziel
Independent neurologist put quarterback in concussion protocol
The Browns are denying a Feb. 9 report claiming they invented the story about Johnny Manziel’s late-season concussion to cover up for him showing up drunk for practice the Wednesday before the final game of the season.
“I was with a Browns player yesterday,” Michael Silver of NFL Network reported. “Johnny Manziel, going in to what would have been a start late in the season, showed up drunk at practice on a Wednesday. The Browns lied and said he was in the concussion protocol. Let me say that again: The Browns lied. To try to protect and, I would argue, enable this irresponsible and very troubled young man.”
Manziel was tackled hard twice in a game with the Chiefs on Dec. 27. He was not tested for a concussion either time and did not complain until three days later. One day after that, Dec. 31, he was declared out for the game with the Steelers on Jan. 3.
“Johnny Manziel came to our facility on the morning of December 30th and complained of concussion symptoms,” said a statement from a Browns spokesman Feb. 9. “He was tested by an independent neurologist and entered the league’s concussion proto-
col. He remained in the protocol until January 12th after being cleared by the independent neurologist.”
Silver responded to the Browns’ statement with a series of tweets:
“If the Browns say they did not lie about Manziel’s diagnosis, I will take them at their word, and I regret using that term ‘ lied’… I do not have direct knowledge of what Manziel may have told the doctor or doctors who evaluated him, or what might have been suggested… I am not a doctor & thus cannot presume to question the diagnosis of an independent neurologist or any medical professional ...
“I stand by my original report that Manziel showed up drunk at practice & that witnesses believed this was the cause of his ‘behavior.’ ”
Manziel was allegedly seen in Las Vegas on Jan. 2 wearing a disguise. The Browns claim they do not know where he was but said he was fined for missing a scheduled treatment for his concussion Jan. 3 in Berea. He was not required to attend the game with the Steelers.
Meanwhile, details have emerged on Manziel’s alleged assault of his former girlfriend, Colleen Crowley, on Jan. 30 in Dallas. Crowley’s attorney, Kathy Kinser, told NBC5 in Dallas her client suffered a punctured left eardrum when Manziel allegedly hit her.
Crowley described in a four-page affidavit how she and Manziel argued in a Dallas hotel room about another woman.
She wrote about Manziel throwing her on the bed and though he claimed he was doing it “playfully,” Crowley wrote: “I tried to fight him off. I became very scared that he was going to hurt me.”
Crowley said Manziel took her to the valet stand at the hotel to drive her home to Fort Worth in Crowley’s car.
She wrote she asked the valet not to allow Manziel to drive her, but the valet did not prevent him from driving. She said she jumped out of the car as Manziel was backing away but then he discovered her behind some bushes.
“He grabbed me by my hair and threw me back into the car and got back in himself,” Crowley alleges in the affidavit and went on to describe how the argument continued in the car. At one point she said, “I hate you. Leave me alone.”
At that point she said Manziel told her “he was going to drop me off, take my car and go kill himself. I thought maybe he was on drugs or having a psychotic break so to keep him calm I began telling him, ‘ I love you.’
“(Manziel) started laughing at this and I became really scared. I started crying even more and he told me, ‘Shut up or I’ll kill us both!’ Then I started begging him not to kill me and he immediately responded, ‘I would never kill you. You don’t deserve that. I would only kill myself!’ He was not making sense.”
Crowley said Manziel smashed her cell phone on the tile floor of her apartment.
“I became extremely scared as to what he might do,” Crowley said.
“I was in my kitchen so out of fear for my life, I pulled a knife out of my knife block and advanced toward him. He ran out of the apartment.”
Police were unable to contact Manziel on his cell phone and sent up a helicopter to search for him when Crowley expressed concern he might harm himself.
He was eventually located and told TMZ he was fine and “Nothing happened.”
Dallas and Fort Worth police are continuing to investigate the alleged assault. A Texas judge has ordered Manziel to stay away from Crowley for two years.
“If the Browns say they did not lie about Manziel’s diagnosis, I will take them at their word.” — Adam Silver