Manziel: Tried too hard to be Johnny Football

BEREA, Ohio — Johnny Football became more than Johnny Manziel could handle.

“It just overtook who I was as a person,” the Browns quarterback said Wednesday.

Speaking to the media for the first time since spending 10 weeks in a rehab facility, the polarizing Manziel said he is hoping to move past a regrettable chapter in his life. Though he didn’t divulge the reasons for his stay in a Pennsylvania substanceabuse facility, Manziel acknowledged he got caught up trying to live up to a persona he helped create.

“I think at times Johnny Football probably took over me a little bit, and I bought into that,” Manziel said following the team’s second mandatory minicamp practice. “I didn’t do my best to hush things down, push down the hype. At times I welcomed it with immaturity and just accepted that a little bit — and that’s my fault.”

One of the changes the former Heisman Trophy winner from Texas A& M intends to make is scrapping his trademark money sign, when he rubs his fingers together after a big play.

“The money sign will not be back,” he said. “I will not be making it out there.”

Manziel opened his remarks by thanking reporters for respecting his privacy, and he acknowledged Browns coach Mike Pettine, owner Jimmy Haslam and others with the Browns who “helped me out through a difficult time.”

The 22yearold didn’t duck any questions and he reiterated that he was the one responsible for “a disaster” of a rookie season in the NFL.

“At the end of the day, everything that happened last year is not on anybody else but myself,” said Manziel, who made two starts last season. “I guess I wasn’t prepared to handle the type of spotlight that I got, and all the hype that came with it.”