After months of descending into a downward spiral, former Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel may have to find a new line of work soon.
It comes after Manziel, aka Johnny Football, saw his career as a pro football player take another substantial sack this past week.
The latest development in the Johnny Football soap opera took place this week when notable agent Drew Rosenhaus officially “fired” Manziel as his client.
Rosenhaus, who has represented many big name athletes in the sports industry, cut ties with the embattled quarterback after he gave what amounted to an ultimatum. Rosenhaus threatened to, and ultimately did, end his relationship with Manziel after Manziel failed to receive help for his substance abuse issues.
Of course, sports fans who have been following social media or the hot sheets (i.e. tabloid pages) have been front and center to the train wreck that’s been Johnny Football’s playing career and his off-the-field issues.
Issues that have been well documented by various sports media outlets. Issues that led Manziel’s former team, the Cleveland Browns, to throw in the towel and waive him March 11.
It says something when a team that’s won only 19 games in five seasons thinks you’re a liability despite your talents.
Perhaps that’s what makes this saga the sports equivalent of a Greek tragedy.
It’s a story that’s become far too commonplace in the world of sports. The tale of a young athlete with tons of promise, but little discipline, succumbing to the pitfalls of fame and fortune.
For a young, brash, athlete like Manziel, the vices of alcohol and drugs seem to be too much to ignore.
At the same time, some of the behaviors Manziel is exhibiting (primarily the party-hardy lifestyle) isn’t far off from the actions of other 23-year-old males in America.
Here’s the problem, though. Those 23-year-old males aren’t the face of a professional sports franchise. They aren’t also spokespeople for multi-million dollar corporations that brand their products with their mugshots.
To that point, Nike has terminated its endorsement contract with Manziel as part of his off-the-field transgressions.
I applaud Nike for making that decision. Unfortunately, it may not make much of a difference in how Manziel behaves.
Perhaps that’s what makes this entire saga so painful to take in. The fact that Manziel hasn’t learned that his status as a high-profile athelte/celebrity doesn’t entitle him to act like a buffoon.
Because of his off-the-field transgressions, images of Manziel’s on-the-field prowess, primarily at A&M, are fading away faster than a 40-year-old veteran quarterback on the depth chart.
Worse is that he has now shown patterns of acting in a violent manner toward others, not just himself.
According to media reports, a Dallas County grand jury is expected to hear Manziels’ misdemenaor domesitc violance case.
Manziel ultimately needs help in conquering his issues. It’s something the star quarterback has vowed for some time to alleviate.
Rosenhaus said it best when he called Manziel’s struggles “life and death” and that it went beyond football.
It’s high time Manziel put his money where his mouth is and get the ball rolling.
