NFL: Cleveland Browns QB Johnny Manziel Throws Water Bottle At Fan During Altercation
Cleveland Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel threw a water bottle at a heckling fan who had been badgering him for an autograph for more than two hours at the Byron Nelson Classic golf event on Saturday, reports TMZ Sports.
Manziel’s agent, Erik Burkhardt, told Northeast Ohio Media Group that Manziel handled the situation “appropriately.” Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com reports that Manziel alerted security officials at the PGA tournament in Irving, TX, of the situation while other accounts claim that Manziel, following an alleged taunt by the fan whereby the fan reportedly said “Nice throw” in a sarcastic manner to Manziel, charged the fan and had to be restrained by members of his entourage.
Irving police spokesperson James McLellan corroborated the account and told Northeast Ohio Media Group that both sides declined to press charges.
As Seth Walder of the New York Daily News recalls, Manziel has had a history of off-field incidents including a similar situation last November involving an altercation with a Cleveland Browns fan whereby a member of Manziel’s entourage punched the fan, who Manziel claimed was “very intoxicated” and “put hands on” Manziel. At the time of the incident, Cleveland Browns General Manager Dan Farmer was quoted as saying that “the timing of the incident is concerning to us.” That incident occurred around 2:30 in the morning.
Manziel was recently released from the Caron rehabilitation facility which treats those who are battling addiction. TMZ reported that, according to witnesses, Manziel was not intoxicated at the time of this incident.
Manziel’s off-field troubles have dated all the way back to before he became the starting quarterback at Texas A&M University. In June, 2012, before his first college game, Manziel was arrested and charged with three misdemeanor counts of disorderly conduct, failure to identify, and possession of a fictitious driver’s license, of which Manziel pled guilty to failure to identify with both of the other charges being dismissed.
During the 2013 offseason, Manziel was dismissed from the Manning Passing Academy for allegedly oversleeping and was later kicked out of a University of Texas frat party. Those incidents led to Manziel’s parents revealing concerns to ESPN The Magazine about Manziel’s impending stardom as well as concerns of many as to Manziel’s on field commitment versus his partying lifestyle.
In August, 2013, the NCAA investigated Manziel for allegedly accepting payments from autographs that he had signed in January of that year and while no evidence was found, Texas A&M reached an agreement with the NCAA to suspend Manziel for the first half of the season opener citing an “inadvertent violation” of the rules.
