Fansided

Cleveland Browns teammate says Johnny Manziel was a ‘100 percent joke’ in 2014

By Sam Richmond

Dec 28, 2014; Baltimore, MD, USA; Cleveland Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel (2) warms up prior to the game against the Baltimore Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 28, 2014; Baltimore, MD, USA; Cleveland Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel (2) warms up prior to the game against the Baltimore Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit

One Cleveland Browns player did not hold back when discussing Johnny Manziel’s first season in the NFL.

Few would argue with the idea that Johnny Manziel’s rookie season was a disaster.

More from Cleveland Browns

But it might have been even worse than most of us imagined it to be.

A new ESPN report details just how much of a mess Manziel was during his first NFL season. One of his teammates summed up well Manziel’s year, calling it a “100 percent joke.”

Among the indictments against Manziel in the piece: he didn’t even know how to call plays correctly when he started.

"Several sources said Manziel either didn’t know the plays in the huddle or didn’t call them correctly. The Browns tried to get him comfortable by using shotgun and pistol formations on about 80 percent of his downs and by simplifying the offense.But more than once, teammates corrected the play-call in the huddle, or headed to the line hoping things would work because the call was wrong. Sometimes, the offense would get lined up wrong because Manziel forgot to read the whole play or got the verbiage wrong (saying “left” instead of “right,” for example)."

Also, the piece suggests Manziel was more “committed to partying” than he was improving on the football field.

"Manziel was not present the morning before the season finale. Team security drove to Manziel’s downtown home to check on him. The Browns were packing up for the season finale at Baltimore on Dec. 28.Two team sources said security found a player who they felt clearly had partied hard the night before. One source used the words “drunk off his a–.”"

Manziel has long said the right things to the media about wanting to mature now that he’s a professional, but it’s hard to take him seriously when a teammate is calling him a joke, multiple team sources say he was drunk before the team’s season finale and that he didn’t understand the play calls even after sitting on the bench for much of the season.

There’s no doubt Manziel has a lot to change if he’s going to have a successful career in the NFL. His first step might be to win back the players in the Browns’ locker room, as ESPN’s report suggests they aren’t really in his corner at this point.

The Browns selected Manziel with the No. 22 pick in the 2014 NFL Draft out of Texas A&M. He threw 35 passes for 175 yards for zero touchdowns and two interceptions during his rookie season.

More from FanSided

Home/Cleveland Browns