Johnny Manziel’s Legal Troubles

Johnny Manziel sat in a courtroom recently, listening to a judge scold him. He was to have no contact whatsoever with his ex-girlfriend. In January, Manziel’s ex-girlfriend, Colleen Crowley, claimed he hit her and threatened to kill her. This isn’t the first time Manziel has had legal issues. In June 2012, Manziel was charged with three misdemeanors stemming from a late-night fight in College Station, Texas. In 2013, Manziel received a parking ticket and tweeted harshly about it and that same year got kicked out of a University of Texas fraternity party. In 2015, Manziel checked himself into a rehabilitation facility after he admitted to an alcohol addiction as well as nearly hitting a fan in the head with a water bottle. Later that year, he was pulled over by the police after fighting in the car with his girlfriend and multiple videos of him partying surfaced online.

Before all these woes began, Manziel was picked 22nd overall in the 2014 NFL Draft by the Cleveland Browns. All across America, buzz spread like wildfire and many NFL analysts said that he would be the face and future of Cleveland’s organization. In the blink of an eye, the whole world came crashing down on him and his football future. On March 11, 2016, after numerous efforts by family, friends, and teammates to put him on the right track, the Browns released Manziel. A few weeks later, he was released by two agents and dropped from Nike. Now, as Manziel struggles internally and externally, he must find a way to resurrect not only his NFL career, but his life.