2012 Heisman Trophy winner’s jinx: from failure in the NFL to having to get his mother out of jail
Despite a record-breaking college career, Johnny Manziel failed to make a significant impact in the NFL and left due to on-field issues.
The mother of former Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel has been arrested for driving under the influence in Texas. Michelle Manziel was driving in Kerrville, around 65 miles northwest of San Antonio, when she was detained by law enforcement.
TMZ reports that she was held on a $7,500 bail, which has since been paid. Kerville was the town in which Johnny Manziel grew up and first gained a reputation as one of the nation’s best high school football players.
Manziel went on to star for Texas A&M in the NCAA, breaking countless college record and winning the Heisman Trophy in his freshman year. He was the first player to win the prestigious award in his first season in the college game, earning himself the nickname ‘Johnny Football’.
What happened to Johnny Manziel?
Johnny Manziel is far from the only college star to fail to adapt to the professional game, but his story of unfulfilled talent is one of the most striking. In addition to the 2012 Heisman triumph, Manziel broke the single-season SEC record for offensive production (4,600 yards) and became the first freshman to put up 3,000 passing yards and 1,000 rushing yards in a debut season.
He regressed slightly in 2013 but remained a top performer for Texas A&M and declared for the 2014 NFL Draft. He was projected to be a round one pick but his off-field antics were starting to earn him a reputation, one that would ultimately cut short his promising career.
In June 2012, before he became Texas A&M’s starting QB, Manziel was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct, failure to produce identification, and possession of a fictitious driver’s license. The following year, now a big star in the college game, he became a common feature in local media due to his poor behaviour and his parents were reportedly concerned about his dealings with fame.
Nevertheless he was drafted by the Cleveland Browns at No. 22 and had a run in the team, before ill-discipline forced him out. In 2015 he was involved in an incident with a heckler at a golf tournament and he was later pulled over by police after allegedly fighting with his then-girlfriend in a car.
He was dropped from the Browns' starting QB after videos of him partying surfaced online and he missed a team meeting due to a trip to Las Vegas. Most seriously, in February 2016 the Dallas Police Department announced that they were investigating Manziel for charges of domestic violence against his girlfriend. He was swiftly cut from the Browns, dropped by his lawyer and saw his contract with Nike terminated.
That spelt the end of his time in the NFL and his short, yet incident-filled, career at the top level of professional sport.
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