The loss of Manziel, who was drafted with maximum publicity but has displayed only marginal talent, would be no big deal; he’d be just another in a seemingly endless string of Cleveland quarterback failures. But it does raise the queston of just how much of a personal life a player in the NFL is allowed to have. Should they be required to spend all their off-field hours watching game films and studying playbooks? And, perhaps, be secluded in monasteries during the off-season? Or should they, as adults, be free to drink, smoke, eat spicy foods and stay up after 10 p.m. like other adults?
Clearly, there are times when football players shouldn’t drink, such as during the pre-game warmup. Or in the huddle. But even the heartiest partier probably could recover from popping a champagne cork a week before the next game. Although, given his widely reported previous issues, it might be a good idea for Manziel to abstain completely and leave drinking to the fans in the Dawg Pound, where it belongs.
Then again, there’s always the “distraction” factor to keep in mind. Who knows how many Cleveland players will fumble, drop passes or miss tackles in Cleveland’s game against Baltimore on Monday night because they’ve been distracted by Manziel’s drinking in Texas last week? Team morale probably will be at a season low, although it’s hard to see how much lower it could go for a team that has won only two games. Still, if the Browns don’t make it to the Super Bowl this year, team officials will know exactly whom to blame.
There’s no question that Johnny Manziel has made some bad decisions during his time with the Cleveland Browns. But bad decisions are how Johnny Manziel became a Cleveland Brown in the first place.
So maybe the people who decided to pick him in the first round of the draft are the ones with a drinking problem.
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