Another Loss For Johnny

We keep waiting for Johnny Manziel to hit bottom, but he remains in free fall. It’s almost like a cartoon as we wait for some little plume of smoke from the abyss.

It wasn’t enough to get released by the Cleveland Browns, the worst team (and organization) in the NFL. Or to get fired by his agent. Johnny Football doubled down.

On Tuesday, he got fired by another agent. Then Nike dropped him as an endorser. On Thursday, a Dallas County grand jury will hear a case involving him that could result in an indictment for misdemeanor domestic violence. Manziel faces up to a year in jail and a $4,000 fine if the grand jury votes to indict him on the charge, which stems from allegations made by his ex-girlfriend.

Talk about your busy bee. Only he’s the one getting stung, and nearly every wound is self-inflicted.

The 2012 Heisman Trophy winner issued a statement on Tuesday night that said he was “hoping to take care of the issues in front of me right now so that I can focus on what I have to do if I want to play in 2016.”

The 10-day rehab stint last year apparently didn’t do much. And in a league starving for quarterback talent, Manziel cannot attract a suitor or keep an agent. And his statement implies he doesn’t even know if he wants to play.

It would be funny if it weren’t so sad. It’s always a shame to watch a talent burn his own house to the ground, unaware that he’s still in it. Even the NFL, which forgives nearly every affront by gifted players, appears to have limits (we’ll wait and see what the Dallas Cowboys do with Manziel, who played at Texas A&M).

Get help, Johnny. Get treatment. Get whatever is necessary to put your life back in order.

Go, Johnny, go. Go, Johnny. Be good.
 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman