Johnny Manziel’s draft day wait could’ve been much longer, and Teddy Bridgewater is thrilled it wasn’t.
Once speculated to be picked as high as No. 1 overall, Manziel fell to the Browns at No. 22, but apparently Manziel was not the team’s first choice.
On the card set to be handed to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell was Bridgewater’s name, not Manziel’s, according to ESPN, but the switch was made after Browns owner Jimmy Haslam ordered the team to take Manziel over Bridgewater. Perhaps a hobo in Cleveland had something to do with that.
Apparently, Haslam and Bridgewater were on the same page, though, because the former Louisville quarterback stated early Tuesday he had no desire to play in Cleveland.
“I actually told my agent that that wasn’t the place I wanted to be,” Bridgewater, who was taken by the Vikings with the last pick in the first round, said on the Dan Patrick Radio Show.
The report states the new card with Manziel’s name on it was given to Goodell with 10 seconds left on the draft clock. The Browns denied the report, and head coach Mike Pettine called it “beyond laughable.”