Johnny Manziel just continues to make headlines this week, but not for good reasons. The quarterback’s week has included: being involved in a car crash where he fled the scene, getting picked up after the accident by Josh Gordon, having Von Miller praise him and say he’d welcome him to the Broncos, saying he was Von Miller’s roommate when Miller denied that statement, and now apparently being at a damaged party house in Los Angeles with Josh Gordon.
Cleveland.com reported that on Friday, a person identifying himself as Gordon was with Manziel at a rental home in the Hollywood Hills of Los Angeles. The house was badly damaged and there was alcohol and drugs visible when the rental agency stopped by.
This isn’t good news for Gordon and Manziel. Gordon had his petition for reinstatement for his drug ban denied by the NFL on Tuesday. His agent, Drew Rosenhaus, who also recently took on Manziel as a client, said he can reapply for reinstatement on August 1st.
Manziel, meanwhile, has been served with a demand for around $32,000 in damages for the home, Goodwin told Cleveland.com. Page Six published pictures of the damage as well. The quarterback received an ultimatum of sorts from Rosenhaus earlier this week. He said Manziel has five days to enter rehab or find a new agent, which would be his third of the offseason.
The owner of LA Exotic Life rental agency, Nicholas Goodwin, rented the home to Manziel April 4th-6th. He reported he never saw the two doing drugs or drinking, but he believes he saw cocaine, mushrooms, and marijuana while the two were at the home during the parties.
“I ended going over there myself and they misrepresented themselves,” Goodwin said. “They didn’t say the rental was for Johnny… It was so late and I was so exhausted that I didn’t know it was actually Johnny that was renting the house.
“I got home and I was like ‘oh my God, I just rented a house to Johnny Manziel. I don’t know if that was the right move.”’
The day after the party around noon, Goodwin went over to check on the house, he told reporters. He said Manziel was asleep on the couch, so he spoke with a man who identified himself as Gordon.
“I didn’t recognize Josh because he’s not as recognizable as Johnny,” he said. “I sat and talked to him and said ‘how do you know these guys?’ He goes, ‘I played with Johnny over at Cleveland.’ I said, your name? He said ‘Josh Gordon.’ And I was like ‘wow, OK, I don’t know if it’s a good idea for these guys to be hanging out together.'”
Goodwin later added there were things he didn’t get pictures of and that the pictures he did take don’t show everything that happened or was damaged.
The owner of the house, who will receive the money Manziel owes in damages, does have security footage of the party, according to Goodwin. He later added the second of the two parties was much bigger and made neighbors in the area angry to the point that the police were called.
Just this past Wednesday, before the parties occurred, Manziel’s agent Rosenhaus spoke about what the quarterback is going through.
“I am really grasping at straws,” Rosenhaus said. “This is the last thing I can do. And hopefully he wants me to continue to represent him. … This is a really, really nice young man. I think he has a future that’s bright if he will take the next steps. Until he does that, it’s a very scary situation.”
Rosenhaus has never fired a client, but with this latest misstep by Manziel, it looks like Rosenhaus could be closer to doing something he’s never done.
