In a new Netflix documentary, former Cleveland Browns and NFL quarterback Johnny Manziel revealed he attempted suicide after the Browns cut him following the 2015 season. Netflix released “Untold: Johnny Football” and in it, Manziel reveals his depression after falling out of the league.
From ESPN’s Jake Trotter, who recaps the episode.
“Manziel said he had purchased a gun “months earlier” with the plan to use it to carry out death by suicide, but when he pulled the trigger the weapon malfunctioned.”
Manziel says he doesn’t know how the gun didn’t fire, pulling the trigger with it only clicking. He also reveals he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, lost nearly 50 pounds, and went on a “$5 million bender,” spending a large chunk of the money he made in the league.
He went on to say his plan was to do everything in life he could, spend all the money he had, and then “my plan was to take my life.”
A first round pick of the Browns in 2014, Manziel was one of college football’s most exciting players. A star at Texas A&M, he won the 2012 Heisman Trophy for college football’s top player. In two years starting for the Aggies, he threw for nearly 8,000 yards and 63 touchdowns while rushing for another 2,100 and 30 rushing scores. That 2012 was one of the most dominant in college football history, responsible for 47 total scores (26 passing, 21 rushing).
Coming out of college, there were many questions about his maturity and love for football along with more minor concerns like a lack of size. He fell in the 2014 draft until the Browns took him 22nd overall. Later, Browns’ owner Jimmy Haslam would reveal a homeless man told him to draft Manziel and as the story goes, that was one of the influences in taking him. How much that can truly be believed is up for debate. But Haslam’s choice of Manziel evidently went against an outside firm hired to help evaluate the class, who told the team not to take him.
The Browns gamble failed. He spent just two years in Cleveland, starting only eight games and going 2-6 as a starter. He completed only 57-percent of his passes and threw just as many interceptions as touchdowns, seven apiece. In 2015, he fumbled six times in nine games.
Manziel, now 30, was cut by the team following the 2015 season. From there, he never joined another NFL roster, bouncing around in the CFL before playing in the Fan Controlled Football League. He also appeared in the now-defunct AAF for the Memphis Express.
If you would like to watch the 72-minute documentary when it airs Tuesday, you can do so by clicking the link here, though you’ll need a Netflix subscription to do so.
