Manziel’s father: QB’s life at stake
Attempts to get son into rehab failed, Paul Manziel says.
With Johnny Manziel’s professional career in doubt and his personal life crumbling, his father fears for his safety.
The troubled quarterback was under investigation by two police departments following allegations that he hit his former girlfriend last weekend in Texas. Manziel was dropped by his agent Friday, was ordered this week to stay away from his ex for two years and will be released by the Cleveland Browns next month after two tumultuous seasons.
“I truly believe if they can’t get him help, he won’t live to see his 24th birthday,” Paul Manziel told The Dallas Morning News, adding that the family has made two unsuccessful attempts in the past week to get the player into a rehab clinic.
Manziel agreed to go to the Enterhealth Ranch addiction facility in Van Alstyne, Texas, but he would not stay, Paul Manziel said. He tried to have his son admitted Tues- day to Carrollton Springs Hospital, but Manziel was allowed to leave. Paul Manziel said he told a Denton County Sheriff officer he believed his son to be suicidal.
The 2012 Heisman Trophy winner spent 73 days last winter in a Pennsylvania treatment center specializing in care for alcohol and drug dependency.
Manziel was under police investigation for allegedly hitting ex-girlfriend Colleen Crowley in Dallas and Fort Worth. The police departments in both cities said Thursday their investigations are closed.
Crowley filed a protective order against Manziel this week that prevents him from seeing her for two years. The order says Manziel must stay at least 500 feet from his ex-girlfriend’s home and place of work, and owes $12,000 in legal fees.
State of the league: NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is pushing to require the ejection of any player who is flagged for two personal fouls in a game.
“We should take that out of the hands of the officials when it gets to that point,” Goodell said at his annual “state of the league” news conference ahead of the Super Bowl. Among other topics addressed by Goodell:
■ Days after researchers said late quarterback Kenny Stabler’s brain showed signs of a degenerative disease found in dozens of other deceased NFL players, Goodell said: “The concussion issue is something we’ve been focused on for several decades ... and we have made great progress.”
■ He would not say whether an NFL victory in next month’s appeal in the court case involving Tom Brady’s role in “Deflategate” would result in a reinstatement of the Patriots quarterback’s four-game suspension.
■ He said there was a 40 percent reduction in players arrests during the 2015 calendar year.
■ He said he would prefer the Oakland Raiders and San Diego Chargers stay put, rather than moving to new cities, and pledged “to try to get the right kind of facilities long-term in both of those markets.”
■ Nov. 21, a Monday night, will be the date for Texans-Raiders, the NFL’s first regular-season game in Mexico since 2005.