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Report: Browns ‘Alarmed’ by Johnny Manziel’s Behavior

Ever since the Cleveland Browns made Johnny Manziel a first-round pick back in May, he has been seen in what can be considered some compromising situations off the field. Such is the life for a young man that plays hard. 

A recent report by Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com paints a picture of a Browns organization that seems to be alarmed by Manziel’s off-field exploits. 

The Browns have been ‘alarmed’ by some of Johnny Manziel’s antics since the draft — especially a photo of him rolling up a $20 bill in the bathroom of a bar — and some in the organization feel he’s lost ground in the quarterback competition heading into camp, sources have told cleveland.com.

We honestly have no idea what Manziel was doing in that bathroom photo, but conjecture suggests it was something illegal. The Browns may very well be right to worry about that one specific situation.

However, as a whole, didn’t Cleveland fully understand Manziel’s reputation before drafting him? He was known as someone who loved to party. There was ample public evidence of this during Manziel’s days with Texas A&M at College Station. This doesn’t even take into account the vast amount of information Cleveland had at its disposal from a vetting standpoint prior to selecting Manziel in May.

The report continues…

Manziel regressed in practice after the first week of organized team activities, and some in the organization attributed it to too much jet-setting and not enough dedication to the playbook.

Now this is most definitely worrisome for the Browns. It’s one thing to party in the offseason. It’s a completely different thing to allow it to impact your job on the football field. If that’s one of the reasons Manziel has fallen further behind Brian Hoyer for the starting job in Cleveland, the concern is well warranted.

Another thing must be taken into account here. Apparently, Manziel promised to tone down his off-field exploits prior to the Browns selecting him in May.

Team officials had bought into Manziel’s pre-draft promises to tone down the partying and leave his frat-boy lifestyle back in College Station, Texas, and they’ve been stunned by his non-stop antics, sources said.

If that’s the case, there are larger issues at hand here. Is Manziel mature enough to handle a starting job in the NFL? Heck, is he committed to doing everything possible to improve his game on the football field?

In any event, this is something the Browns don’t need at this point. And for Manziel, he’s certainly receiving the attention of both the organization and the media. Let’s see how he handles it over the coming months.

Photo: USA Today

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