Johnny Manziel was once considered the future of the NFL. The Heisman Trophy winner in 2012, Manziel was the second quarterback off the board in 2014, being drafted by the Browns 22nd overall. However, Manziel never lived up to the hype generated by his college career. He appeared in just 15 games over 2014 and 2015, starting eight. Mustering a 2-6 record across his eight starts, he threw for 1675 yards, throwing seven touchdowns and seven interceptions.
Manziel also had a string of off-field issues, including going to rehab during the 2015 offseason and being benched for partying during the 2015 season. These issues, plus his underwhelming on-field play, led the Browns to cut him ahead of the 2016 season. The team drafted Cody Kessler in the third round of that year's draft. That led to a very dark period in Manziel's life.
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Manziel Contemplated Suicide
Next week, Netflix will release Untold: Johnny Football, the latest episode of their long-running Untold series. "I think I was just running from problems," Manziel said of his suicide plans. "It was probably a $5 million bender. Direct self-sabotage, trying to burn this thing down." Manziel had an elaborate plan to blow all his money and then end it all. "I had planned to do everything that I wanted to do at that point in my life. Spend as much money as I possibly could and then my plan was to take my life. Months prior, I went and bought a gun I knew I was going to use. I wanted to get as bad as humanly possible to where it made sense and it made it seem like an excuse and an out for me."
Manziel is in a much better place now. Earlier this week, he announced that he was going to return to his alma mater of Texas A&M. There, he will open a new sports bar called "Johnny Manziel's Money Bar" and will reportedly open in time for the start of the 2023 season. Untold: Johnny Football drops on August 8 on Netflix. It is the second episode of the third season.
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