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Did Johnny Manziel Hype Ruin The Playoff Hopes Of The Cleveland Browns?

By Toni Matthews
Published on: 07:56 PST, Dec 14, 2014

Disgruntled Cleveland Browns fans may want to shift their team’s terrible fortunes on the shoulders of 22-year-old Johnny Manziel, but the truth is that their team was probably doomed before his Cincinnati Bengals debut.

In fact, I’ll say that however anyone feels about Johnny Manziel personally, it isn’t so much HIM that people can’t stand as the hype around him.

The Johnny “Football” Manziel hype machine was on the last nerve of many NFL fans long before his obnoxious “show me the money” gesture.

Because if there’s one thing dedicated sports fans hate, it’s a ton of hype for an unproven athlete. Johnny Manziel is a rookie, for crying out loud!

The NFL covets legends and icons—men who have long proven themselves in the professional football realm. Yes, Manziel is a Heisman trophy winner with a registered trademark for a nickname. But many wanted to know the college-level acclaim was enough to prove Manziel could be the quarterback the Cleveland Browns so desperately needed.

Starting quarterback Brian Hoyer stood in the way of this question for the vast majority of the NFL season.

Perhaps if the Johnny Manziel question were answered early, the Browns wouldn’t have seen their entire season go up in smoke courtesy of a ruthless Bengals defense.

Instead, Browns coach Mike Pettine left it FAR too late. There were just three games left of the Browns season, and in retrospect, it had to be pure desperation behind the decision to use this crucial game as the ultimate test of Johnny Manziel’s talent.

There’s “trial by fire” and then there’s a “Hail Mary”.

In this case, the Cleveland Brown’s prayers went unanswered.

Speaking of answers, I wouldn’t consider this loss at home, no matter how deflating, to be the answer to the Johnny Football question. There is clear potential, and it’s blatantly wasted at Cleveland.

Perhaps with a better offense, a better staff, and a more talented starting quarterback to learn from, Manziel will be able to gain the training and experience he needs to reach his full potential in the NFL.

One of the most positive things that could come out of this terrible game for Johnny Manziel would be for his hype to die, and for him to be gifted the sort of humility that comes from an awful debut. Sometimes things have to go very wrong for a young talent for them to make the sort of decisions and grow into the sort of athlete that can truly succeed.

I think that the Cleveland Browns made the mistake of buying into the Manziel hype and allowing it to cloud their entire season. Well, now there doesn’t seem to be much of a season left to hope for.

Such optimism will likely be left for next season, assuming the team will be fortunate enough to sort out its starting quarterback situation. If I were Johnny Manziel, I’d take in this entire experience and then start easing toward the nearest exit.

[Image Credit: cleveland.com]

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