The off-field drama surrounding Cleveland Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel has taken a turn for the worse over the past several days.
An incident with on again, off again girlfriend Colleen Crowley in Texas last weekend paints a picture of a young man that continues to struggle with substance abuse.
Not only did Crowley allege that Manziel hit her multiple times prior to police arriving on to the scene, she suggested that the quarterback threatened to kill the both of them if she reported the incident.
Worried about the well-being of his son, Manziel’s father has gone on record indicating that he’s fearful for the young man’s life.
It really has turned into a scary situation for all involved.
However, when domestic violence allegations become part of the story, the focus should be on the victim.
That’s why the comments Deion Sanders made to the media on Friday act as a cautionary tale for all men in the world. It pretty much paints Manziel as the victim with Crowley being the one at fault here:
“Johnny’s in love,” Sanders said, via Cleveland.com. “And Johnny’s in love with something that’s crippling him right now. I understand it.”
To the normal man, one that doesn’t have violent tendencies towards women, this is a cop out of epic proportions. Being in love doesn’t include what we have seen from Manziel and Crowley in recent months.
It’s a toxic relationship — one that has shown Manziel in a bad light. One that he should take responsibility for and act like the man he’s supposed to be.
“And it upsets me that grownups don’t understand it,” Sanders continued. “Because he feels as though this game don’t love him, the people in this game don’t love him, so the only thing that he associates with love is that thing that’s really inflicting a lot of pain on him and that’s his girlfriend.”
Talk about victim blaming.
The NFL Network should take note of Sanders’ comments. It’s not something he should be throwing out there, especially within the context of a league that has dealt with domestic violence issues a whole heck of a lot in recent years.