Quarterback Johnny Manziel famously flamed out of the NFL after two mostly disastrous seasons with the Cleveland Browns.
During a recent conversation with Jackson Thompson of Fox News Digital, though, Manziel suggested things could’ve gone differently had he been selected by the Kansas City Chiefs in the first round of the 2014 NFL Draft.
“We had been reached out by the Chiefs [that] were a team that was maybe going to be my floor and get with a guy like (head coach) Andy Reid, but outside of that, the draft was just kind of a wait-and-see thing for me,” Manziel explained. “They had contact with my agent and we kind of had a feeling that that was going to be my floor.”
The Chiefs held the 23rd overall pick of that year’s player-selection process, but Cleveland grabbed Manziel at choice No. 22. He ultimately made more off-the-field headlines than highlight-reel plays over his two-season Browns career and has since spoken openly about how he self-medicated via substance abuse to cope with his bipolar disorder and mental health. Manziel has also said that “it didn’t take me very long to be in Cleveland to find out that I wasn’t going to be happy there” and that he attempted to take his own life after the Browns released him in March 2016.
“I was excited whenever it happened on draft night, but looking back now, there’s times where I have a bit of a bitter taste in my mouth maybe about how my NFL career turned out,” Manziel told Thompson. “The draft is something that is out of your control. It goes the way it goes, you don’t have a ton of say in where you end up. Would it have been different if I was somewhere else? Maybe.”
Over the years, Reid has repeatedly noted how veteran quarterback Alex Smith “was the greatest thing that ever happened to” Patrick Mahomes because Smith was a “perfect” mentor for the signal-caller who has developed into a three-time Super Bowl Most Valuable Player. This past February, Chiefs superstar tight end Travis Kelce credited Reid for helping him become a “professional” and grow “as a man” during the early days of his pro career.
“I think being there and being in a situation where I was a backup and learning from a guy like Alex Smith and Andy Reid, it could have only been positive,” Manziel said about what could’ve happened had he joined the Chiefs as a rookie.
To his credit, Manziel acknowledged he doesn’t know for sure “if there’s anything in that point in time” that would have helped him extend his career past two seasons. He added that he doesn’t “put a lot of blame on anybody” other than himself for becoming one of the biggest draft busts of the 2010s.
