Vigdor’s Venom: The Sad Decline of Johnny Manziel

If you’ve have been paying attention to the sad decline of Johnny Manziel like we have here at Philly Influencer, I’m sure that you’ll agree that Manziel has put himself in an awful situation. Taking football out of it for a second, it’s been pretty clear that as soon as he was drafted in the NFL, we could see where this was headed.

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I mean my god, if that’s not the look of the most punchable face in the world, I don’t know what is.

His college career capped his head up so much that him hanging with athletes like LeBron James has made the guy feel like he’s a star like James. The sad reality is that he’s not. He was never going to take the NFL by storm and he certainly hasn’t. His time in Cleveland was a disaster from the time he got there. But in his mind, he was still the man.

Things got worse for him when police obtained surveillance video of his alleged assault on his ex-girlfriend. From there, Manziel found the lord and not the lord that he needs. Instead of getting his head right and get focused on salvaging his NFL career, he continued to waste it away by partying every second he had. Meanwhile, by that time, Manziel had been indicted on assault charges against his ex-girlfriend.

Here’s his exes affidavit requesting a protective order.

Yet Manziel still didn’t take anything seriously, as his now deleted tweet of his mugshot indicated. His continued partying has led him to looking like a crackhead. He lost his NFL job. He’s young, he has money, but it seems like no one can stop this downward spiral.

Back in February, Manziel’s father Paul indicated that he didn’t believe that anyone could get him help. Here’s what he had to say via ESPN.com.

I truly believe if they can’t get him help, he won’t live to see his 24th birthday.”

That’s depressing! And as someone that has lost friends to drug overdoses, I know that it’s not a great feeling. Even with all of this right in front of Johnny’s face, it doesn’t seem like he gets it. Just recently out in Mexico, Manziel is talking about a comeback, while surrounded by drugs that he says aren’t his. The first step of getting help is acknowledging that you need help and that certainly isn’t happening here. His father Paul spoke again about his sons trajectory.

He’s a druggie. It’s not a secret that he’s a druggie. I don’t know what to say other than my son is a druggie and he needs help. He just hasn’t seeked it yet. Hopefully he doesn’t die before he comes to his senses. That’s about all you can say. I don’t know what else to say. I hate to say it but I hope he goes to jail. I mean, that would be the best place for him. So we’ll see.”

Even Charles Barkley says this isn’t going to end well when he gave an interview on 97.5 the Fanatic’s Morning Show the other day. Here’s some of what Sir Charles had to say.

I said, ‘Johnny, man you’re screwing up your life, man. I’m not your dad, I’m not going to try to lecture you. I’m just telling you I had a brother who passed away at a young age. Drugs and alcohol got him. It’s gonna end like a bad movie. He said, ‘Man I just like to have fun,’ and I said, ‘Johnny we all like to have fun, at some point it’s out of control.’ I said, ‘Man, don’t screw up your career, and I’m worried about your life. I saw what happened to my mom, when my brother passed away, I thought she quit living after that happened. I felt bad for her, and I don’t wanna feel bad for your mom and dad if something happens to you man, stop being selfish.’ He said, ‘Man, you know what, I’m gonna try and do better. “So it’s about two o’clock in the morning. I got the plane waiting at the airport because I got to get to Oklahoma City. So me and my boys, we stay there for a couple more hours. I’m driving to the airport …’Breaking News: Johnny Manziel arrested at a nightclub in Vegas.’”

So for this week only, my venom has become a bit somber because this is a sad story. Manziel is on a one way trip to dancing with the devil. For his sake and for the sake of all of those around him, let’s hope he comes to his senses quickly, before it’s too late.