Ex-Browns Publicly Prays for Cleveland’s Downfall After Kevin Stefanski Cut Ties With QB

A single text was enough to convince Dowell Loggains. As the then-quarterbacks coach read the ambitious text from quarterback Johnny Manziel that read, “Hurry up and draft me because I want to wreck this league together,” he instantly forwarded the message to HC Mike Pettine. The result? The Cleveland Browns ultimately trading up from No. 26 to No. 22 to select the Heisman Trophy winner. In retrospect, and very unfortunately so, that text only looked good in theory. After a brief two-season stint with the team, the player was ultimately let go amid a litany of off-court issues, including substance abuse and a misdemeanor assault charge for hitting his then-girlfriend. Manziel has hated the Browns ever since.

And that very hate was on full display once again on his latest Nightcap podcast appearance with Shannon Sharpe earlier this week. Discussing his time with the team, the former quarterback first admitted, “I think I will always be looked at and viewed at because of how much hype and media…was around me, and the city of Cleveland expecting me to be great and that ultimately not panning out,” before noting, “Listen, I sit here today. and I go back and forth with, ‘Am I going to let Cleveland off the hook and just let it go? Or am I going to sit here with hate and animosity in my heart for the rest of my life?’ And I finally sit here today and I’m like, ‘F-ck it. I think I’m going to be pissed at him and hate him forever’. So, it is what it is, man. No love for the Browns.” Finally, he topped off his pointed monologue with, “I’m rooting for 0 and 16 seasons every season.”

Manziel’s grudge has persisted against a fanbase that endured a winless 2017 season and decades of quarterback instability. Yet, through it all, he knows he was also to blame for the downfall.

“I sit here today, and a lot of people will hear me speak cause I tell stories and I’m doing the podcasting stuff, people will always be like I’m blaming stuff on other people, or I’m not accountable or anything like that. But listen, at the end of the day, everything I’ve done in my life, that’s happened to me throughout my football career is only because of one person: Myself, and the decisions I made as a man in this life,” he said.

“So, was Cleveland the best situation for me to go to? Did they help me, knowing all the things they knew about me, with all the research and everything? Did they put me in the best situation? Absolutely not. It was not the right situation for me, but when it comes down to it, you take all of that aside, you throw it away, and you look in the mirror and say, ‘I let an amazing opportunity slip. It’s on me’. I’m the one that has to sit with myself every single night as I watch college football or watch NFL football and be like, ‘Damn, I would be in my 12th year. I would be XY and Z’. I’m the one that has to lay my head on the pillow every night and be like, ‘That could’ve, would’ve, should’ve’. But it wasn’t.”

“And at the end of the day, a lot of my life as I’ve been out of football has been like, ‘What am I going to be able to do to find a spark, to be able to be happy, to be able to give me something like football did give me?’ And you know what? Maybe it wasn’t meant to be for me. I didn’t put in the time or effort or determination that you need to be great, that both of you guys did for the sport. And that was just maybe my stupidity, my youth or what it was meant to be…Nevertheless, I take accountability for everything and what it is. I really didn’t harm anybody other than myself when it’s all said and done. So, we’re still sitting here today rocking, rolling, happy, healthy and we’re on the ‘Nightcap’ show now, baby,” the 32-year-old concluded.

Notably, Manziel burst into the scene in 2012 during his first season as a quarterback at Texas A&M. With a major 29-24 win over Nick Saban-led Alabama, the conference’s top team back then, the quarterback went 24-of-31 for 253 passing yards and two touchdowns, earning the moniker “Johnny Football”. However, the Heisman Trophy winner’s NFL career was exactly the opposite. In two seasons, Manziel started eight games, losing six, completing 57 percent of his passes, with seven touchdowns and a staggering seven interceptions, for 1,675 passing yards. He also rushed for 259 yards and a touchdown.

Unfortunately, after leaving the NFL, the signal caller failed to revive his football career. He played for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and Montreal Alouettes in the CFL in 2018, before joining the Memphis Express in the Alliance of American Football the next year. Manziel’s final stop was Fan Controlled Football, where fans called the plays.

As football talent waned, Manziel battled more severe demons. He spoke out in 2018 to disclose his bipolar disorder. He acknowledged that he needed to put mental health first. “There is no job without my mental health,” he stated.

Having said that, is Manziel’s 0-16 prophecy really going to come true? While the team has already been tagged as a bottom-feeder this season, Stefanski is pulling all the stops to strengthen his 53-man roster.

Browns trim QB room

The Browns cut quarterback Tyler Huntley on Sunday, leaving Joe Flacco, Dillon Gabriel, and Shedeur Sanders on the depth chart. Huntley was added after Pickett’s hamstring injury, but there wasn’t room for a fifth quarterback. With Deshaun Watson on injured reserve with a torn Achilles, Stefanski must balance short-term stability with developing two rookie draft picks.

Joe Flacco is the unquestioned starter. Pickett was traded to the Las Vegas Raiders, making Gabriel the backup quarterback. That safety net may turn out to be essential in a division as merciless as the AFC North. Particularly with Cincinnati waiting in Week 1. Keeping Sanders on the roster is an indication that Cleveland is willing to allow the rookie to develop with the team. Stefanski, on the other hand, himself admitted the emotional aspect of roster cutting, labeling it as one of the “tough aspects of this business,” but he also stressed his contentment with the effort of the team going into September. With Flacco calling the shots and a seasoned blend of veterans and newcomers behind him, Cleveland is relying on experience and promise alike to move them into a critical season. Will they be able to do it, or will Johnny Manziel have the last laugh? Only time will tell.