What’s next for Johnny Manziel? Something. There’s always something.
Though nearly three months remain until the rookie quarterback has an opportunity to make his NFL debut, Manziel has found it fairly easy to remain in the spotlight since being drafted by the Cleveland Browns.
This weekend, the Heisman-winning quarterback was seen partying in Austin, Texas, where he was apparently captured chugging a bottle of liquor while lying on a giant inflatable swan in a pool.
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Then, something much more unexpected occurred when the San Diego Padres selected Manziel in the 28th round of MLB’s First-Year Player Draft, despite having not played baseball since he was in high school.
Still, the non-stop circus coverage of a young quarterback is something Browns coach Mike Pettine is familiar with after seeing Tim Tebow’s disastrous lone season with the Jets firsthand in 2012, as the team’s defensive coordinator.
It has helped prepare Pettine for dealing with the situation, though the similarities of the situation don’t necessarily translate on the field.
“The circumstances are different,” Pettine said, via the Cleveland Plain Dealer. “Tebow was an established NFL player, he wasn’t coming in as a rookie, unproven. It’s a little easier for us with Manziel because he understands he earned Johnny Football as a college player and nobody understands it more than him. It’s like, ‘Listen, I don’t want to be named starter coming out of the draft.’
“People criticize us for referring to him as a backup. That’s what he is. It would have been a disservice to the other 80-some players in the locker room and it would have been a service to him carrying that burden of ‘What have you done to deserve this?’ We all want him to be successful but there is a process that has to occur and he has to go through it.”