Johnny Manziel’s tangled web of troubles only gets worse by the day.
The Browns quarterback reportedly showed up to practice inebriated on Dec. 30, just days before the regular-season finale against the Steelers, leading the organization to announce their starter was being treated for a concussion to cover up the incident.
“I was with a Browns player yesterday. Johnny Manziel, going in to what would have been a start late in the season, showed up drunk at practice on a Wednesday,” NFL Network’s Michael Silver reported. “The Browns lied and said he was in the concussion protocol. Let me say that again: The Browns lied. To try to protect and, I would argue, enable this irresponsible and very troubled young man.”
The Browns denied the cover-up allegations in a statement to Cleveland.com.
“Johnny Manziel was diagnosed with a concussion by an independent neurologist,” the team said. “He wasn’t cleared until Jan. 12. The fact that people are saying we lied about [Manziel’s] concussion is false.”
A subsequent ESPN report cast Manziel’s condition in a slightly different light, citing a well-placed Browns source who said of the morning in question: “Manziel looked terrible. He wasn’t drunk, but he was heavily hung over on something. There was something going on there.” Manziel reportedly complained of light sensitivity, nausea and a headache.
Silver defended his reporting in a series of Twitter messages later on Tuesday: “I do not have direct knowledge of what Manziel may have told the doctor or doctors who evaluated him, or what might have been suggested. If the Browns say they did not lie about Manziel’s diagnosis, I will take them at their word, and I regret using that term (‘lied’). I stand by my original report that Manziel showed up drunk at practice and that witnesses believed this was the cause of his ‘behavior.'”
Manziel, who is currently at the center of a domestic violence investigation following an altercation with ex-girlfriend Colleen Crowley, is set to be released by the Browns next month. The 23-year-old played in 14 games in his two seasons in Cleveland, and has been on a downward spiral for the past several months.
After a video surfaced of Manziel partying during a bye week in late November, the Heisman Trophy winner lied to the organization about when the footage had been filmed. On Jan. 2, USA Today reported he fled to Las Vegas under the alias Billy Manziel, working the Strip in a blond wig and a fake mustache. Manziel was slated to show up to the Browns’ facility before the next day’s season finale — for a check-up as part of the NFL’s concussion protocol, the team said — but he was AWOL until resurfacing on Monday.
Since the season concluded last month, Manziel’s off-field behavior has become increasingly erratic. The 2014 first-round draft pick allegedly ruptured his former gal pal’s eardrum with a slap and threatened murder-suicide during a Jan. 29 domestic abuse incident. His agent dropped him as a client days later, and his father issued this alarming prophecy:
“I truly believe if they can’t get him help, he won’t live to see his 24th birthday,” Paul Manziel told the Dallas Morning News.
Manziel entered rehab after last season, but refused two attempts last week when his family tried to get him to return to a facility.