Johnny Manziel: I need to earn my place

The Cleveland Browns have been doing everything in their power to let first-round pick Johnny Manziel know that he is not in College Station anymore. From telling him that he is nothing more than a back up at this point and ensuring that they treat him like any other rookie, the message seems to be getting through to the youngster out of A&M.

When speaking to the media on Saturday, Manziel said everything that the Browns want to hear.

“I’m a rookie,” Manziel said, via the Cleveland Plain Dealer. “I need to earn my place. I need to earn my keep. I don’t need to be treated based off what I did in the past because that doesn’t mean a thing at this level. I was completely OK with hearing that from everybody. I don’t want to come in and have anything handed to me that I don’t deserve.

“I got passed up 21 times, so that says something. Getting passed up 21 times is never fun and obviously some of those teams weren’t going to take quarterbacks and we knew that going into it, but still, it’s even humbling to be the second quarterback off the board, so for them to come in and say that, I don’t think I need to be humbled. I realize where I’m at in this organization and what I need to be doing, and that’s all I’m really focused on.”

The Cleveland Browns have been searching for a star quarterback and Manziel certainly has the ability to become the face of the franchise.

If his approach to the offseason is as great as what he has been saying to the media so far, then the Browns may not be able to keep him on the bench behind Brian Hoyer for long.