Johnny Manziel bares soul on drinking, depression
On Monday morning, Johnny Manziel went on Good Morning America and spoke about his ongoing battle with drinking and depression.
Johnny Manziel has not thrown a pass in a professional football game since Dec. 2015, the last of his two NFL seasons with the Cleveland Browns. Since then, Manziel has been out of football but squarely in the spotlight, arrested and charged with a litany of crimes.
Now, Manziel is hoping to rehab both his life and image. On Monday in an interview with ABC’s Good Morning America, the Heisman Trophy winner spoke about his battle with addiction and depression. In the piece, Manziel opened up about his problems, ones that he believes have been put in his past. Per KTRK of College Station, Tx.:
"“I was self-medicating with alcohol, that’s what I thought would make me happy and get out of that depression to a point where I felt like I had some sense of happiness,” Manziel said. “At the end of the day, when I would wake up the next day after a night like that going on a trip like that, and you wake up the next day and that is all gone, that liquid courage or that liquid like sense of euphoria that is over you, is all gone.“You are left staring at the ceiling by yourself and in that depression and back in that hole, that dark hole of sitting in a room by yourself, super depressed, thinking about all the mistakes you made in your life, what did that get me? Where did that get me except out of the NFL? Where did that get me? Disgraced?”"
To speak of redemption is fine, but the wake of destruction Manziel has left behind him deserves light as well. The 25-year-old was accused of domestic violence by former girlfriend Colleen Crowley in Jan. 2016, claiming the former quarterback threatened to kill her before saying he would commit suicide. The case resulted in a plea agreement.
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If Manziel gets another chance, it likely won’t be in the NFL. He’s been inactive for the past two seasons and although he’s only 25, it would take a miracle for an owner to take that chance. While in the NFL, Manziel completed 57 percent of his throws and added more value with his legs than his arm.