While most of it will brushed off as just someone ‘talking the talk’, for Cleveland Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel, that just might have been exactly the step in the right direction.
Dubbed ‘Johnny Football’ during his college days at Texas A&M, Manziel’s exploits – both on and off the field – have been well documented, but the second year quarterback is looking to put that past him and look forward to his future as a NFL signal caller.
Johnny Manziel Closes Chapter On Past, Looks To Future
“I’m moving forward. My focus is on football. This is what I’m here to do. This is what I love to do,” Manziel said at a press conference on the second day of minicamp. “My private life is documented enough. For me here today I’m eager to talk about the 2015 Cleveland Browns.”
“Everything else, I’m trying really to close a chapter on my life and move forward.”
That included maybe his signature move, the money sign.
“The money sign will not be back.”
After the rookie season he endured, one he called himself a ‘disaster’, it shouldn’t be a surprise he would want to move forward with this year as the starting point.
In the little action he did see in 2014, Manziel did little to cement his status as a former Heisman Trophy winner as well as a first round pick. Losing both starts he made, the Texas born quarterback completed 18-of-35 passes for 175 yards with no touchdowns and two interceptions. He came off the bench against the Buffalo Bills before he made his first start and scored the lone touchdown of his rookie season, a ten yard scamper to cut their deficit in half.
No matter what Manziel did – good or bad – a spotlight was put on him. It even trickled down to the rest of the locker room. One of the reasons behind breaking his media silence was to try and take some of the unfair attention away from his teammates.
“It’s not fair for Joe Haden having to answer questions about me everyday. It’s not fair for Joe Thomas and all these guys to continue to have questions asked about me. I don’t think that’s fair at all. I don’t want that on them.”
For the majority press conference, you can almost say Manziel was eating a very large slice of humble pie, regularly putting the blame squarely on the person it should be on – himself. “I didn’t do my best to push things down, push down the hype and at times I welcomed it.”
With the past behind him, Manziel was looking forward to the season and what he could do to improve as a NFL quarterback. “To be in this building as much as possible… Trying to not make the same mistake twice.”
“Now I’m not as focused on spitting the plays out, knowing where everyone is going to be,” Manziel added on improving his play. “Now I’m focusing more on ‘ok where’s this safety going, what is this doing’”.
The 22 year old could have a wildcard this season to help him improve, the same player who is currently responsible for moving Manziel to the backup at best.
Josh McCown was brought in by the Browns to provide a veteran presence at a position that has been nothing short of dreadful since their reception. After a breakout 2013 season with the Chicago Bears yielded him a starting job in Tampa Bay, things fell apart quickly in his new setting – posting an 1-10 record in his lone season there.
Both coming from Texas, the two’s hometowns are less than a hour away from each other. Manziel highlighted the aid he has gotten from the veteran McCown, “He has been able to help me, obviously being a veteran, with coverages, with protection. He has been through this quite a few times.”
While it was good to hear Manziel say all the right things, especially when some have noted that wasn’t the same case last year, his success or failure in the NFL will always lie with his play on the field.
Obviously one of the more tantalizing players to come through the NFL in some time, everything he has done in camp has been highlighted. From the good, to the over microscoped – the highlighting of him fumbling more than a few snaps out of the shotgun.
Manziel is finally talking the talk of a NFL quarterback, but will he be able to walk the walk? Now without the distractions off the field that the media can highlight on, Manziel can finally leave everything on the field in 2015.
