Former Cleveland Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel was one of the most spectacular first-round busts in NFL history.
The Browns took a chance on Manziel after he won a Heisman Trophy with the Texas A&M Aggies in college, but the franchise released him before the expiration of his rookie deal, and Manziel never caught on with another team.
Manziel has recently been in the news after his appearance on his episode of Netflix’s Untold documentary series. One of Manziel’s former teammates, Joe Thomas, was a guest on The Dan Patrick Show earlier this week and said he was unsure if he wanted to watch the documentary because he lived it and there were still some “old scabs.”
Patrick cut right to the chase and asked Thomas when he knew the NFL wasn’t going to work out for the embattled Manziel.
“Well, shortly after we drafted him, he like vanished in the spring,” said the 2023 Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee. “We were in the middle of OTAs and the coaches couldn’t find him. He had come to Cleveland. He was there for like a day, and he was at practice and then he just disappeared. I think he was just on a bender somewhere in Cleveland partying and he couldn’t find his way back to the facility. It was at that moment I was like, ‘Hmm, we may have some problems with this young rookie here…'”
Thomas had experienced a lot of losing seasons with the Browns, so the trouble that transpired with Manziel was just another notch in the belt.
“It’s not a lot of fun, especially when you’re an old guy and you’re still showing up for minicamps and OTAs and all the optional stuff in the offseason. And here’s this first-rounder who’s supposed to be doing everything he possibly can to earn the trust and respect of his teammates, and he’s missing and you can’t find him.”
Thomas called that experience “really frustrating” but wanted to give someone like Manziel the benefit of the doubt, at least early on.
“Somebody had to see something in him for us to draft him in the first round,” Thomas said. “I know he had a great college career, but hey, even if he didn’t have the off-the-field problems when you look at him as a prospect, he was short. He was not incredibly fast or quick. It’s not like he was a short quarterback that ran a 4.4 and was just lightning quick where you thought he could make up for it. He had a ton of physical limitations that the NFL game was going to expose.”‘
Even without the off-the-field issues, Thomas made it quite clear why Manziel didn’t work out in the NFL.
