Cleveland Browns owner trolls Johnny Manziel, officially jumps off bandwagon

By Josh Hill | Jan 23, 2015

Dec 21, 2014; Charlotte, NC, USA; Cleveland Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel (2) on the sidelines in the third quarter at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports /

The Cleveland Browns are quickly souring on Johnny Manziel as owner Jimmy Haslam is once again playing hardball with his young star.

When the Cleveland Browns drafted Johnny Manziel in 2014, it was something that was either going to surprise everyone with how well it worked out or crash and burn in spectacular fashion. To the pleasure of many, the latter happened and the Browns quarterback position still has a giant question mark affixed to it.

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Almost as soon as Manziel was drafted, he was given the treatment you give a puppy being potty trained, as owner Jimmy Haslam shamed Manziel for being a party animal and refused to hand him the starting job. This continued well into the 2014 season as Brian Hoyer almost lead the Browns on a playoff run before reality set in again.

With the 2015 season approaching, Haslam is again slapping Manziel on the nose with a rolled up newspaper in an effort to either further train him or officially distance himself from the prospect.

“We’ve got to get a quarterback and got to get it fixed,” Haslam said, via the Akron Beacon Journal. “I would say to our fans is we’re going to continue to work really hard to find that quarterback who can make us a championship team.”

That’s hardly a glowing endorsement, but given how much of a mess the Browns have been under Haslam’s rule –from the Rob Chudzinski mess to this — it’s hard to believe a word he says.

Haslam obviously was a fan of Manziel coming out of Texas A&M last season as he allowed for a draft day trade that saw the Browns select Johnny Manziel in the first-round. Things changed quickly though when it was apparent that the quarterback was not ready to mature as quickly as he needed to and it appears that he’s in the dog house.

There’s a chance the Browns simple move on from Manziel and trade him as he still has value in the NFL. Doing so would be to admit failure but it wouldn’t be the first time Haslam has moved on from someone in a prominent position within his organization after just one year of service.

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