Ever since the Browns released quarterback Johnny Manziel back in March (stating off-field concerns, which is ironic because, yanno, Josh Gordon is still on the roster), rumblings about whether or not he’d ever see the NFL field again started to pop up. Rumblings turned to legit questions. Those questions turned to concerns. And thanks to Manziel’s party-hard mentality, it now appears his time in the league is over (I appreciate the NFL’s 4-game ban, but yeah… it’s done).
And yet, despite the former-Factory of Sadness fan favorite fizzling out like a dud firework, it seems like the behemoth 4-letter network keeps hanging on to Manziel like a stage-5 clinger, or that ex who keeps stalking your social media profiles under fake accounts because you blocked their main account, then runs to gossip to all of their friends (we all know somebody).
These recent revelations about Manziel are nothing new of course. During his short stint in the league, Manziel made it very apparent that adulthood is not his thing. Words like ‘responsibility‘ or ‘humility‘ or ‘not being a complete and utter moron’ simply never registered with the grown man who goes by the name ‘Johnny’ (MAJOR pet peeve) and flashes money gestures anytime he does anything remotely successful on the field (completion! *rubs fingers together*). He has addictions and demons that he refuses to face (his current claim is sobriety as of today? Yeah, ok). He has shown to be a compulsive liar (Drop an Insta from Cleveland… while in Vegas. And I recall a fake ‘stache in there, somewhere?). He essentially stole money from the Cleveland Browns, while wasting a high draft pick. There’s literally nothing good that can be said about Manziel at this juncture in his life (other than praise to the Browns front office from opposing AFC North teams).
But despite all of the negativity that follows him like flies on a steaming pile of Manziel, and essentially regurgitating the same story lines during his time in the league, he’s still front and center for ESPN for some reason.
For those with ESPN notifications on their phones- how many Johnny Manziel alerts have popped up since he was released? Maybe once a week? Same goes for all of their social media outlets as well (ESPN NFL’s Twitter account has posted FOUR Manziel stoires in the past 8 days!). And the stories themselves are completely unrelated to sports whatsoever at this juncture, while getting more run down as time goes on.
“Manziel involved in hit and run”
“Manziel’s dad says his son is a druggie”
“Manziel’s attorney sends errant text to AP”
“Manziel ate a cheeseburger at 10am”
“Manziel tied his shoes ‘loop, swoop & pull’ style today.”
Maybe not all of those are accurate, but you get the point. ESPN’s Twitter account shouldn’t be posting daily stories about a guy who a) is currently unemployed in the NFL, b) is likely to remain so, and c) clearly has his life so far out of whack that the last thing he needs is constant attention helping to feed his ego.
So here’s a suggestion for ESPN- maybe write about current players in the league? Maybe some more feel good stories from players doing similar things to Ronnie Stanley (adopting a dog from a shelter) or Elvis Dumervil (building homes in Hati)? Those are just 2 players from one team. Imagine what stories would pop up if they checked out all 32 teams! They could fill those feeds with inspirational stories! Motivational tales! Positivity!
And yet… we’re stuck with TMZ-esque blurbs about a has-been (or never-was, I suppose) who is watching his potential to be much more, go spiraling down the drain (by more, I mean a legitimate, journeyman backup QB. He was never good enough to be a starter. Maybe in the CFL. Or like if XFL returned. Actually, no XFL. He’s worse than Tommy Maddox).
Then again, at least it’s not a Greg Hardy love-fest like the 2015 offseason…
