Cleveland Browns: 4 fastest falls from grace by a player
By Chad Porto
Johnny Manziel
Sometimes you don’t even need to be on the field for your stock to be way too high. Johnny Manziel came into his NFL career with the Cleveland Browns having been one of the most celebrated and highly touted college quarterbacks of all time. His athleticism and arm strength made him must-see T.V. in college, during his freshmen season with Texas A&M, he won the Heisman Trophy. The first freshmen ever to do so.
Maybe there’s a reason why freshmen aren’t typically looked at to win the award. After all, the only other freshmen to win it was Jameis Winston.
When the Browns drafted Manziel in the 2014 NFL Draft, the fans went wild for Manziel. “Johnny Football” was in Cleveland and fans thought it was a fever dream. His draft stock was everywhere that year. Some had him going No. 1 to Houston, while others thought if he lasted that long that he’d go No. 16 to Dallas.
Going No. 22? Johnny Football? No one thought that was possible. Cleveland had the No. 26 pick in the Draft and gave the Eagles that pick and a third-rounder to move four spots to take Manziel. Fans went mad. They couldn’t believe the Browns just got their franchise quarterback.
It was smart of them to not believe it.
Despite the hype that Manziel came in with and how much fan support that he had already, Manziel didn’t live up to the hype. No amount of Skip Bayless saying Manziel would be bigger than LeBron James in Cleveland was going to help Manziel. He was too far gone. An addict who cared more about a good time than improving his game, Manziel was off the team after just two years.
His stink clung to the Browns for so long that when the team took Baker Mayfield four years later in 2018, all anyone did was compare him to Manziel, even though they’re not even the same style of player.