Mistreating Manziel

The Cleveland Browns have a potential savior in the building. His name is Jonathan Paul Manziel aka Johnny Football. And they are mistreating him like no other.

Since the draft, there have been many comments and stories regarding Manziel and his arrival in Cleveland. Most have not really been in Johnny's favor, and quite frankly, Johnny is getting abused by the team that he wanted to play for. It's a damn shame.

As most people say, it starts from the top. In this case, the top of the organization is the owner, Jimmy Haslam. Days after Manziel was drafted, Haslam insisted that Johnny "act like a backup." Excuse me, but last time I checked, every single person associated with an organization wants every player on the roster and practice squad to prepare and act like the starter. That is the only way to be fully ready on Sundays. If Johnny prepares to hold the clipboard and the starter goes down, he would not be ready.

That is strike 1. (Check my extensive take on it at http://sportstation126.blogspot.com/2014/05/how-johnny-cleveland-came-to-be.html)

Next, Browns quarterback coach Dowell Loggains, goes on the radio and shares Johnny's private text conversation to the public. This just shows the inexperience of the 33 year old coach. He didn't say anything to put Manziel in a negative light really, but his comments can make one question, that after Cleveland passed on Johnny Manziel TWICE in the draft and then finally moved up 4 spots to grab him, how much is the organization really all in with Johnny? Did they just draft him out of pure shock that a player of Johnny's stature and skill would ever want to play in Cleveland? Maybe, we may never know. They should be thankful though, because most people wouldn't wish on their worst enemy to be a Cleveland athlete. The fact that Manziel WANTED to be there should make them respect him, not disrespect him more than anybody else.

Strike 2.

Another thing Haslam said, was that Cleveland "is not Hollywood." Excuse me,  nobody is mistaking Cleveland, Ohio for Hollywood. As far as the circus and scrutiny around Johnny Manziel, HE never asked for it to be there. It is the MEDIA and analysts that want to put it on Johnny. Everybody just wants to act like he wants all the attention. That is so unfair and wrong. All Johnny did was win the Heisman his freshman year, and was in the running for it his second year as well. That means the man produces on the field! Why do we talk about the Aaron Rodgers' and Calvin Johnson's of the world? Because they PRODUCE! As far as his off the field scrutiny, yes, he went to a frat part at the University of Texas. So what? He's a kid and it's not like he ever got arrested for drinking problems or anything of that nature. Johnny never said he wanted to be a Hollywood figure, it is the media that makes him one.

Strike 3.

Jimmy Haslam

And finally, just yesterday General Manager Ray Farmer came out and said that the starter from last year, Brian Hoyer, was "substantially ahead" of Manziel. Obviously, he SHOULD be. Hoyer has been in the NFL since 2009, learned behind Tom Brady for 3 years, went on to learn behind Ben Roethlisberger, as well as hold a short starting gig in Arizona before coming to Cleveland. In Cleveland he had two good games before blowing out his ACL. I would hope that the guy with all that NFL milage was ahead of the guy who has been there for TEN DAYS. But why bash Johnny publicly every chance you get?

Strike 4.

My only guess is that the Browns are trying to minimize the Manziel circus in Cleveland, the way Bill Belichick did with Tim Tebow just last summer. The difference is, the Browns don't have a coach of Belichick's cache nor do they have Tom Brady on the roster. Johnny Manziel may very well be the most skilled quarterback on the Browns roster.

Hopefully the Browns learn from these mistakes and handle Johnny Manziel in a more acceptable fashion going forward. Otherwise, it could be a rough start to the promising career of Johnny Football.