What's next for Johnny Manziel after indictment?
Johnny Manziel became even more toxic to NFL clubs with a domestic violence indictment that was unsealed at a Dallas County courthouse Tuesday.
The former Cleveland Browns quarterback faces a higher likelihood of a ban under the league's personal conduct policy, but a substance abuse expert told Paste BN Sports that Manziel shouldn’t be focused on a return to football anyway.
“He’s on a collision course where nothing good will result,” said Mike Gimbel, an NCAA-certified substance abuse educator. “He’s blown up his career, his relationship and, now, possibly his freedom.”
Manziel spent 70 days in a rehab facility for undisclosed reasons before the 2015 season, but Gimbel said it become clear weeks afterward, as the quarterback returned to his partying ways, that his stint there didn’t help.
“A lot of people go to rehab for 30 or even 90 days, and think they’re cured,” Gimbel said. “They come out and think they’re fine, but then they go back to their old friends and old lifestyle.”
Gimbel said he’d recommend for somebody in Manziel’s situation to enter an in-patient treatment program that would last six months to a year with up to five years of out-patient monitoring and treatment.
“He needs to get some serious help away from his friends, in a clean environment where he will be around people who can support him,” Gimbel said. “You don’t be around your friends who want to party with you, use you for your fame and money. At an in-patient program, you’re just one of the guys. That would give him the best opportunity to be clean and sober.”
Manziel has been a free agent since his March release by the Browns, who selected the former Heisman Trophy winner and Texas A&M star in the first round of the 2014 NFL draft.
Two agents have dropped Manziel this year, a good indicator that his chances of making it back to the pro ranks are bleak.
"I hope he gets the help he needs,” agent Drew Rosenhaus, who formerly represented Manziel, told the Associated Press.
Manziel spoke with Denver Broncos coach Gary Kubiak earlier this month, but the team never seriously considered signing him.
Any team that takes a chance on Manziel will understand that he faces league discipline over Tuesday’s developments.
Players accused of domestic violence are subject to a minimum six-game suspension under the personal conduct policy that was reworked by the NFL in the wake of former Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice’s domestic violence case. Manziel could be suspended even if he’s not ultimately convicted on the domestic violence charge, according to the language in the policy.
“I’m hoping to take care of the issues in front of me right now so I can focus on what I have to do if I want to play in 2016,” Manziel said in a statement to Paste BN Sports last week. “I also continue to be thankful to those who really know me and support me.”
The NFL previously announced it was investigating the incident — and it’s not the first time the league has looked into domestic violence allegations made against Manziel.
He had a roadside argument with the same former girlfriend, Colleen Crowley, in suburban Cleveland last October. Crowley told police that Manziel had hit her, although no charges were filed. Both admitted to drinking on the day of the incident. The NFL chose not to discipline Manziel after its investigation.
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