The Netflix special, “Untold: Johnny Football” tells the unvarnished story of Johnny Manziel’s epic rise to stardom playing football in Texas to the time his career and life quickly spiraled downward to the point where Manziel said he attempted suicide in 2016.
Manziel had the world in the palm of his hand after winning the Heisman Trophy as a freshman at Texas A&M in 2012. The Browns owned the 26th pick in the 2014 draft and then moved up four spots to select Manziel.
During the documentary, Manziel said he was never happy during his time in Cleveland — a stark contrast to the way his life was for his two seasons in college, but even before he turned pro there were signs his life was heading in the wrong direction.
“We (Texas A&M) were 8-4 (in 2013),” Manziel said in the documentary. “We were better than that. It didn’t matter. You’re looking at mock drafts. You’re looking forward. Whether people like to hear it or not, I was bigger than College Station. It was time to move on and go do the next thing.”
Manziel’s partying and drinking were red flags to most NFL teams. The Browns ignored the signs.
“I was really, really good until the week before the Combine in Indianapolis, and I just broke,” Manziel said. “I didn’t know going into Indy if I was going to pass the drug test. I was told if I didn’t pass the drug test I would go from being a first-round pick to being undrafted.”
Erik Burkhardt, Manziel’s former agent, revealed in the documentary that the Texas A&M fourth-string quarterback supplied his own urine when Manziel was drug tested in college.
Burkhardt said Manziel drank gallons of water before the Combine and passed his drug test, beating the system again.
Blake Bortles, taken by the Jaguars with the third pick in 2014, was the only quarterback drafted before the Browns took a chance on Manziel — a gamble they quickly regretted.
“I thought this would be a great opportunity for me to come in and revitalize the franchise,” Manziel said in the documentary. “It didn’t take me very long to be in Cleveland to find out I wasn’t going to be happy there.
“I had every single thing I could have wanted. You have money, you have fame, you’re a first-round draft pick. You’re going to be battling for a starting quarterback position. When I got everything I wanted, I think it was the most empty I ever felt inside.”
Burkhardt said Manziel could have been a success in the NFL, but Manziel “never worked at it.”
Manziel said he watched “zero” tape to prepare for games while he was with the Browns.
“I went from one fishbowl city to another, and I wanted nothing to do with football,” Manziel said.
Manziel famously went to Las Vegas on the Saturday night before the Browns were to play the Steelers in Cleveland on Jan. 3, 2016, to end the 2015 season. He never made it back to the game because he couldn’t find a commercial flight back to Cleveland.
Infuriated and frustrated with him, the Browns released Manziel in March 2016. He played 14 games in his time with the Browns and was 2-6 as a starter. No other NFL team ever gave him a chance.
“When I got cut by the Browns, I felt it was the biggest weight lifted off my shoulders ever,’ Manziel said.
Manziel in the documentary said he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. He was advised to enter rehab, but he escaped. Instead, he went on a “$5 million bender.” He said he was using cocaine and OxyContin and that his weight dropped from 215 pounds in January 2016 to 175 pounds nine months later.
“I had planned to do everything I wanted to do at that point in my life, spend as much money as I possibly could and then my plan was to take my life,” Manziel said in the documentary. “I wanted to get as bad as humanly possible to where it made sense, and it made it seem like an excuse and an out for me.”
Manziel said he tried to shoot himself, but the gun did not work properly.
“Still to this day, I don’t know what happened. But the gun just clicked on me,” he said.
Manziel at the end of the documentary reflected on his wasted time with the Browns.
“I thought if I ever got to play football in college, that would be an unbelievable accomplishment,’’ Manziel said. “I tell people all the time, it wouldn’t matter what team (drafted him), at that point in time I was incapable of being a good NFL quarterback.
“You get to that point, you’re supposed to know better. You’re supposed to behave like a pro. You’re supposed to push your career forward. It’s hard for me to look back on those days. It feels like a distant memory for the most part.”
Manziel said he is now “on the pursuit of happiness in a way more simplistic form than I was years ago. I see myself as Johnny Manziel from Kerrville, Texas, just trying to be a laid back guy who likes to hang out with my friends.”
Manziel plans to open “Johnny Manziel’s Money Bar” on College Main Street in College Station. The bar is a 15-minute walk from Kyle Field on the Texas A&M campus where Manziel starred as a player.
