Manziel indicted on assault charge
A Dallas County grand jury indicts former A&M and Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel after allegations that he assaulted his ex-girlfriend.
Johnny Manziel’s smoothness and elusiveness on the football field in college were unmatched in his era, and he drew comparisons to old gunslingers like Fran Tarkenton of the Minnesota Vikings and even basketball’s “Pistol” Pete Maravich of LSU and NBA fame.
Manziel’s smoothness and elusiveness off the field aren’t nearly as unique, but they still get him compared with others. Like renowned con artist Frank Abagnale of “Catch Me if You Can” fame. Or perhaps fellow Texan Lance Armstrong, who fibbed for years about his use of performance-enhancing drugs before coming clean to Oprah Winfrey three years ago.
Now Manziel, a former Texas A&M and Cleveland Browns quarterback who won the 2012 Heisman Trophy, has been officially indicted by a Dallas grand jury in his domestic violence case.
The Tyler native is accused of kidnapping,
hitting and threatening to kill ex-girlfriend Colleen Crowley in late January. Dallas police referred a Class A misdemeanor domestic violence assault case to a grand jury instead of making an arrest. Typically, Dallas County’s grand juries hear only felony cases.
Crowley alleged Manziel struck her so hard she ruptured her eardrum and lost hearing in her left ear. Manziel could face up to a year in jail and a $4,000 fine if convicted. Manziel, 23, has denied the accusations via TMZ.com.
Here’s what fans can expect in the coming days or weeks from Manziel: a statement or even an interview in which he pledges accountability and responsibility moving forward. If his history counts for anything, don’t believe it. Not even for one night.
To wit: About two weeks ago, Manziel’s then-agent Drew Rosenhaus gave Manziel a five-day ultimatum to enter a treatment center or their short business relationship was finished. The deadline came and went as Manziel continued partying, and Rosenhaus showed he was a man of his word.
The mega-agent dropped Manziel, an unenviable feat for the wayward quarterback considering Rosenhaus had never fired a client before. Manziel then issued a statement via USA Today claiming, “I’m hoping to take care of the issues in front of me right now so I can focus on what I have to do if I want to play in 2016. I also continue to be thankful to those who really know me and support me.”
Actions final arbiter
Manziel spokesperson Denise Michaels also claimed in a release, “So many people only have one image of Jonathan, but, believe it or not, he takes all this very seriously. He’s hoping that he can clear up his personal issues, start interviewing agents and see what he needs to do if he wants to play this year.”
Over the next two nights, TMZ cameras caught Manziel partying in Los Angeles. Perhaps former NFL star Shannon Sharpe put it best to TMZ concerning Manziel’s undying disingenuousness: “If he doesn’t worry about himself, why should I? … He’s shown no remorse. He’s shown no willingness to change his behavior.”
Two months prior to Rosenhaus’ humiliating dismissal, Manziel’s original agent, Erik Burkhardt, parted ways with the quarterback, citing a lack of accountability from his client. Around that same time, Manziel denied he’d struck Crowley and said via TMZ he was “completely stable” and “safe and secure.”
How many times in the past has Manziel pledged to square things away? About as often as he has earned unappealing headlines. A year ago this month, he pledged “full responsibility for my actions” and said he intended to “work very hard to regain everyone’s trust and respect” following his release from a Pennsylvania drug and alcohol rehabilitation center, where he’d spent about 2½ months.
He actually won the Browns’ starting job late last season, only to flub the opportunity by partying in Austin and Columbus, Ohio, during a weekend off and then fibbing to his coaches about his tomfoolery away from Cleveland. It didn’t help that he has been mostly mediocre in his appearances over two seasons in the NFL, with only flashes of the voltage that earned him the nickname Johnny Football at A&M.
Of course, Manziel told reporters on the Browns beat last fall he wasn’t “going to be a distraction to this team or be an embarrassment to this organization.”
A year earlier, at the end of a bumpy rookie season, Manziel vowed to the Cleveland media, “I can’t sit here and talk to these mics or these cameras or anything that’s going to do any good. It’s about actions. It’s about being accountable and doing what I’m going to say instead of looking like a jackass.”
Now, the concern among some close to Manziel and others who have observed his mercurial career over the past four years is that all the partying and hanging out with hangers-on — non-athletes whose idea of a workout is a 12-ounce beer curl — has taken its toll to the point of no return (to football) for the once-muscular, vibrant athlete.
No NFL takers likely
His overall mental state also is in question, with the hard partying having rapidly added up, especially over the past halfyear. A recent picture of the quarterback at Coachella, an annual music and arts festival in the California desert, showed a slight, frail Manziel looking built more for a mellow camping trip than a rugged NFL training camp.
The Browns cut their 2014 first-round draft selection (22nd overall) in March, and no team has shown interest in signing Manziel, especially with Tuesday’s indictment. Should he somehow latch on with another franchise — and that’s looking less likely with every late-night TMZ appearance — he’d probably face a suspension during his next season of play because of his legal troubles.
“One of the major tenants of psychology is that the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior,” New Yorkbased sports psychologist Richard Lustberg posted on a blog this year in citing Manziel’s reputation for partying and hijinks even at A&M. “Unfortunately, that was not taken into account when the Cleveland Browns drafted Johnny Manziel.”