Johnny Manziel played his last NFL game in 2015, two days after Christmas, and it was Johnny Football at his best and worst. Completed just 13 of 32 passes but ran for 108 yards. And if that 17-13 loss to Kansas City remains his NFL epitaph, well, it wouldn’t be rare despite the glittering resume that preceded it.
Of the 34 Heisman quarterbacks, for instance, only a half-dozen or so have enjoyed NFL careers of any note. Roger Staubach is the lone Pro Football Hall of Famer in the bunch.
And if you narrowed the list even further, to Heisman quarterbacks under six feet who made a living at it, you’re down to Doug Flutie.
So if Manziel still wants to play pro football, as he told the world Monday in a rare peek at his soul, he’ll probably have to do what Flutie did and go north.
Which means that as difficult as these last couple of years have been without football, it’ll only get harder from here on out.
Now I’ve been wrong before, as the lovely wife will testify, but if there’s no room on an NFL bench for Colin Kaepernick, who once took the 49ers to a Super Bowl, no one should be leaving a light on for Manziel. His stock has dropped through the floor since Stephen Jones practically had to hogtie his dad to keep him from calling in Johnny’s name on draft day.
Even Jerry Jones would admit the organization made the right call then, and Stephen would do the same again if Jerry tried to bring Johnny back.
Besides the mostly unimpressive NFL tape, there’s everything that went bad off the field. He’s got talent, and talent will make room, but only for so long. As my pal Babe Laufenberg likes to say, quoting Don Shula, “We will put up with you until we can replace you.” That, friends, sums up the NFL’s philosophy quite neatly.
Anyway, seems to me the last thing Manziel should want at this point, as he deals with an alcohol problem and treatment for bipolar disorder, is to sit around waiting for something to happen. Unless you’re Nick Foles, the loneliest job in pro sports is back-up quarterback. You don’t get many reps in practice, and you’re not busy at all on weekends.
Manziel’s best option is the one he says is still on the table with the CFL’s Hamilton Tiger-Cats. Johnny’s agent imposed a Jan. 31 deadline, but it doesn’t mean anything. The Ticats hold his rights for the rest of the year.
Whether Johnny’s confession was intended, at least in part, to see what kind of interest it stirs up in the NFL or to gain some leverage with Hamilton in contract negotiations, I couldn’t say. But it sure doesn’t hurt. And, to my thinking, it earns him a second chance. Doesn’t mean he’s entitled to it, but he seems sincere, a necessary prerequisite.
For that matter, he needs to turn his life around if he never plays another down, and he seems smart enough to know that. As I’ve said before, I’m pulling for him. But then I’ve always been a sucker for a tale of redemption.
The sooner he signs with Hamilton and gets to work, the better off he’ll be. June Jones will help his career immensely, and Manziel will help the Ticats, which no doubt has been his agent’s point. He’ll certainly sell a lot of jerseys, probably enough to pay his salary. If he’s successful, the league will reap the kind of publicity it never dreamed of.
And even if he’s a bust, it’ll generate headlines. Just the same, I don’t see it going wrong. The CFL is the perfect spot for Manziel. Better than Cleveland, anyway.
While June sands off some of the rough edges, Johnny can play his own kind of football. It’ll be fun. Maybe not as much fun as it was watching him at Texas A&M, when it made you laugh out loud as players skidded all around him. But it’s got potential.
Worked for Flutie, anyway. After a year in the USFL and four more mostly on NFL benches, Flutie put in eight seasons with three CFL teams. Earned three Grey Cup MVP awards and was named the CFL’s outstanding player a record six times. In 2006, he was voted the greatest player in league history.
When Flutie returned to the NFL in 1998, he was 36. Though he started at least parts of three seasons in Buffalo and another in San Diego, he spent most of the rest of his days as a back-up. He retired in 2005, at 43.
Frankly, if Johnny Manziel’s career turns out anything close to Doug Flutie’s, he should count himself fortunate. Because as it is, he’s got a long ways to go, and football’s not the half of it.
