Johnny Manziel: The Bad Influence Cleveland Browns Don’t Need

Cleveland Browns rookie quarterback Johnny Manziel missed practice on Saturday due to a late party thrown on Friday night.

Johnny Manziel has had his share of off-the-field issues throughout his football career, and he had another one on Saturday. He missed the teams practice, and immediately concerned his teammates with his absence. Josh Gordon was also missing from practice unexpectedly.

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According to a recent report, Manziel missed the practice due to a party that had been thrown late on Friday night.

Needless to say, this news coming out makes the incident even more concerning for the Browns moving forward. They drafted Manziel to be their quarterback of the future, but they knew that he was a problem off of the gridiron. Seeing this type of decision-making isn’t going to be popular around the city of Cleveland, and after two very poor starts in a row it makes the team wonder if he really is capable of becoming a quality starting quarterback.

The former Texas A&M superstar quarterback said just a few short weeks ago that he was going to work hard to get to where he needs to be. To be doing this type of thing after promising that to a fan base proves that he doesn’t understand what will get him to be a legitimate starting quarterback.

Cleveland looked to be a playoff caliber team with Brian Hoyer leading the way early on in the season, but they began collapsing late in the year. Once the Browns decided to move on from Hoyer, they threw Manziel out to the wolves against the Cincinnati Bengals and Carolina Panthers. In those two games, Manziel was able to throw for 112 yards, no touchdowns, and two interceptions.

Every single rookie quarterback has their struggles throughout their first NFL season, but he didn’t show any flashes either. There were two plays that he looked somewhat decent, and that was as a backup in the Buffalo Bills game where he ran for a 10-yard touchdown and a 32-yard passing play to Josh Gordon against the Bengals.

Now, the Browns are forced with the decision of whether or not to bring Manziel back as the starter next season or bring someone else in. They could also decide to re-sign Hoyer, but that might not end up being an option.

So why do the Browns not need the type of influence that Manziel is bringing to the table?

Quite simply, his partying is already beginning to rub his teammates the wrong way. There were immediate reports that his teammates were surprised and concerned that he didn’t show up, and the team had to send out security to find him which shows that they had not been notified.

If Manziel truly wants to be a starting NFL quarterback, he is going to have to learn that leading by example is part of the job. Hanging out late and partying the night before a practice is not the way to succeed, and it certainly isn’t close to how an NFL quarterback should be preparing for a game himself.

There is still time for Manziel to turn his career around and get back on track, but he doesn’t have too many more of these situations to get away with. The Browns aren’t happy with his choices so far this year, and it is a major concern moving forward.

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