The fleeing of the Johnny Manziel camp apparently continued on Tuesday with the apparel giant Nike reportedly dropping the free agent quarterback as a sponsor for its brand.
CNBC’s Jessica Golden reported on Twitter that Nike has terminated Manziel’s contract two years after signing him:
Nike confirms that Jonny Manziel is no longer a Nike athlete $NKE
— Jess Golden (@JGolden5) April 20, 2016
None of this should really be surprising. Nike is in the brand game. To that mega-company, public perception is everything. It can’t have someone of Manziel’s ilk representing the brand when he continues to put himself in all the wrong situations off the field.
TMZ had reported months back that Nike could drop Manziel at some point this year. That came prior to the Cleveland Browns releasing the first-round pick back in March.
Now without a team and still in the midst of a legal situation regarding a domestic violence case from earlier this year, Manziel has become nearly untouchable within the broader aspect of the sports marketing world.
This comes on the heels of LeBron James’ marketing company dumping Manziel earlier in the year. It also comes with two agents having severed ties with the quarterback over the past several months.
It was confirmed on Tuesday that super-agent Drew Roenhaus had dropped Manziel just a few short weeks after picking him up as a client.
With everyone jumping the shark beside him, Manziel’s apparently more focused on getting his life straight off the field than he is on resuming his football career.
While that’s most definitely a good sign, it’s important to note that the former Heisman winner has failed at every turn off the field.
Remember, it was just last year that he spent an extensive amount of time in alcohol rehab, only to go back to the bottle after losing his starting job during the 2015 season.
Maybe Manziel will finally take a hint here.