The Cleveland Browns have hurt the careers of plenty of NFL quarterbacks. One wishes nothing but ill will on the organization.
During an appearance on “Nightcap” on Sunday, former Cleveland quarterback Johnny Manziel said he wants his former team to lose all of its games for the rest of his life. He blamed the Browns for not helping him out.
“I think I will always be looked at and viewed at because of how much hype and, you know, media and everything that was around me and the city of Cleveland expecting me to be great and that ultimately not panning out,” Manziel said. “I sit here today and I go back and forth with, man, am I going to let Cleveland off the hook and just like let it go? Or am I going to sit here with hate and animosity in my heart for the rest of my life?
“And I finally sit here today. I’m like, (expletive) it. I think I’m going to be p—– at them and hate them forever. So it is what it is, man. No, no love for the Browns. I’m rooting for 0-16 seasons every season.”
League teams played 16 games per season when Manziel was drafted by the Browns with the No. 22 pick in the 2014 draft. The NFL moved to a 17-game schedule in 2021, six seasons after Manziel last played in the league.
Manziel thinks the Browns could have done better research on him before the draft to help put him in a better situation to succeed early in his career. He also acknowledged that he let an “amazing opportunity slip” by his actions.
Manziel isn’t the only former first-round pick and Heisman Trophy winner that the Browns handled poorly. The team didn’t put the No. 1 pick in the 2018 draft, Baker Mayfield, in a position to succeed.
However, Mayfield didn’t allow his opportunity in the league to slip after the Browns gave up on him. He’s led the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to two straight playoff appearances.
