Are you ready for some (Johnny) Football?
Johnny Manziel has re-signed with agent Erik Burkhardt and is ready to attempt his NFL comeback, according to a report from NFL Network. Manziel made “serious commitments” to Burkhardt, per the report, presumably pertaining to his seriousness about football and dealing with his addiction issues.
Comeback is real: Johnny Manziel has re-hired agent @ErikBurkhardt after Burkhardt had him make serious commitments, per @MikeGarafolo & me
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 1, 2017
Not only is Manziel on the comeback trail, but there is apparently “serious interest” in him from teams at the NFL combine this week.
Johnny Manziel, serious enough to get Burkhardt to take him back, is drawing real interest from teams at the Combine, per @MikeGarafolo & me
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 1, 2017
Manziel, of course, interested teams (or at least, interested the Browns) enough to be a first-round pick back in 2014. He was considered a developmental quarterback prospect and the Browns tried to do exactly that with him for a while, keeping him off the field until they felt he was ready from both a physical and mental standpoint. They wound up having to throw him to the fire before he was ready, and he he struggled in his audition as a starter in his audition as a starter in late 2014. Teammates said that he lost a lot of trust and that he was a “100 percent joke” that was clearly unready to play.
When he returned to a backup role the following season, his off-field problems began to accelerate. Those issues accelerated enough that the Browns cut Manziel after just two seasons with the team. Around that time, Manziel’s father was telling people that his son wouldn’t live to see 24 years old unless he cleaned himself up. Manziel was also embroiled in a domestic violence case and facing a suspension for violating the league’s substance abuse policy.
Here’s a brief list of his off-field exploits in the six months leading up to his release, via our John Breech:
- He went to a club in Los Angeles.
- He went to another club in L.A. (He goes to a lot of clubs.)
- He hired a new agent because his old one fired him.
- He went to a club in Miami.
- He went to a Chris Brown concert in Vegas.
- He went to a club in Vegas.
- He went to another club in L.A.
- He got a tattoo.
- He spent some time with Justin Bieber.
- He did $32,000 in damage to a $4.5 million house.
- His new agent fired him and urged him to get treatment.
- He was indicted for misdemeanor assault.
- He was the passenger in a hit-and-run.
- He watched the NFL Draft at a bar.
- He went to Coachella with Josh Gordon.
- He looked surprisingly thin at a Vegas pool party.
- He partied with Leonardo DiCaprio.
- He skipped a Hamptons party/helicopter ride and “allegedly evaded payment of car accident costs.”
- He got another tattoo.
- He was allegedly a passenger in another hit-and-run.
- He went to Cabo and stayed in a $7.5 million Mexican rental home.
Since that time, Manziel’s off-field activities have continued apace, though he did reach an agreement with a judge in Dallas to dismiss the domestic violence case provided he meet certain conditions, including providing proof he completed a substance abuse program. The judge later said he was concerned that Manziel wasn’t taking the agreement seriously. Manziel responded that he is getting his life in order, and apparently that stance carried over into his conversations with Burkhardt, who has taken Manziel back as a client and is working to get him back into the league.
