Over the past few months, everyone who follows football has pretty much become familiar with Johnny Manziel's off-the-field lifestyle: He loves to party.
What's not exactly known is what Manziel was like in the locker room during his two seasons in Cleveland. Although there were reports that Manziel was a lot to handle and showed up drunk to practice at least once, former Browns offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan says he didn't see any of that.
Shanahan, who now serves as the Falcons' offensive coordinator, says that Manziel was a hard worker in 2014, the only season that the two spent together in Cleveland.
"I was with Johnny for eight months, and Johnny is a very good guy," Shanahan recently told ESPN.com. "Johnny worked as hard for me as anybody. Everything I asked him to do, he did. He was very humble. He did not think he had all the answers. He knew he had to work."
So why did Manziel fail in the NFL?
Former Browns general manager Ray Farmer recently blamed the Browns for Manziel's failures. According to Farmer, the team wasn't ready for the type of celebrity that Manziel brought with him after he was drafted in 2014.
Although Shanahan didn't directly blame the Browns, he did say that Manziel was probably facing too much, too fast from the team that drafted him 22nd overall.
"Unfortunately, [Manziel] had a lot of things going on inside of that building," Shanahan said. "You could tell, for obvious reasons, that he struggled with it."
Former Browns linebacker Karlos Dansby recently echoed that sentiment. In an interview with Jim Rome, Dansby said "nobody" on the team could have handled the pressure Manziel was facing.
"I probably would have committed suicide. Ain't no telling what would have took place," Dansby told The Jim Rome Show. "I couldn't handle none of it. Nobody in that building could handle any of that pressure that man was under."
As for Shanahan, he hasn't coached Manziel since 2014, but he still's rooting for him to succeed.
"I am pulling for him because I do know he's a good kid," Shanahan said. "I know he's got a good heart. I know he can be a good football player."
Like most people who have crossed paths with Manziel, Shanahan would just like to see Johnny Football get his life turned around.
"I don't know what's going on now, but you see all the stuff," Shanahan said. "I do care about Johnny as a person, and I really hope that he can get his stuff together."
To get his stuff together, Manziel's first going to have to deal with the myriad legal issues he's facing. Not only was he indicted on a misdemeanor assault charge in Texas, but he's also facing a huge lawsuit in California for allegedly trashing a $4.5 million rental home.
