Cleveland Browns Fans Should Embrace Johnny Manziel

Cleveland Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel is the most-polarizing National Football League figure in recent memory. As popular as Tim Tebow has been over the years, the majority of NFL insiders have been in agreement on the fact that Tebow will never be a franchise quarterback. That is not the case with Manziel, as there remain respected pro football minds who believe that the phenom known as Johnny Football could find his feet in the league en route to helping the Browns become a winning franchise.

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Not all Browns fans have such faith in Manziel. Some were turned off by the overly-publicized social life had by the 22-year old during the spring and summer of 2014. Others became detractors when Manziel had that horrendous performance against the Cincinnati Bengals last December. Those no longer on the Manziel bandwagon have hit out at the quarterback for his lack of size, for his partying ways, for completing a stint in a rehabilitation facility earlier this year, and even for his girlfriend posting pictures of the happy couple on Instagram.

Manziel undeniably brought much of the criticism he has received upon himself. We now know that he did not work hard enough to earn the starting gig from journeyman Brian Hoyer last August. Manziel was, in his own words, “a jackass” throughout the second half of 2014 during which he let himself, the Browns and Cleveland football fans down. His midweek and weekend activities before and during the regular season prevented him from being anything close to the play-maker we saw during his days at Texas A&M.

Nevertheless, enough his enough from supposed Cleveland fans. The horse is beyond dead at this point.

Manziel is not, despite what his biggest fans may want to believe, a magical being capable of going back in time and righting wrongs. 2014 was essentially a red shirt year as it pertains to Manziel’s NFL career, whatever it will prove to be. There is nothing Manziel or the Browns can do to change that. All he can do moving forward is be a true professional who is dedicated to his craft and who does whatever is asked of him from those running a team that has not had a winning season since 2007 and that has not had a franchise quarterback since the day before forever.

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Browns fans wanted Manziel to end the partying. He went to rehab for months — plural. Fans wanted Manziel to put in the work needed to succeed in the NFL. Manziel has, by all accounts including comments made by multiple teammates, done just that. He recently spent some time working with former head coach Jon Gruden, a noted Manziel supporter, at a time when several others members of the Browns were enjoying the final days of their summer vacations before training camp opens.

All Browns fans should now embrace Manziel, because he is the lone long-term option the team has at the quarterback position right now.

92.3 The Fan radio personality Ken Carman went to the Dark Knight card when he said that Manziel was not the hero some Browns fans want but the hero that they need. Veteran quarterback Josh McCown is not going to be the answer for the Browns if for no other reason than he is not going to be in the NFL three years down the road. Manziel, on the other hand, can improve. He is several seasons away from being in the physical, mental and emotional primes of his football career.

Every Browns fan needs to put the NFL mock drafts away for the time being. No college quarterback can help the Browns in 2015, and the only way the team is getting a top QB in next spring’s draft is if the Browns have a bad season this fall. Why would anybody who actively spends time and also money following the Browns want that? It is only a good thing for all involved if Manziel is the starting quarterback for the Browns in 2016, as that will mean that the team played well in the upcoming campaign and/or that Manziel has proven himself worthy of having the job.

Yes, Manziel screwed up in many ways last year. He was not the only member of the Browns to make mistakes that set him back during his debut NFL season. Head coach Mike Pettine and his staff made his clear from day one last spring that the starting job was Hoyer’s to lose despite what was alluded to during a sham of a quarterback competition. Manziel was then hung out to dry by offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan with a game plan that did no favors to any Cleveland player on the field when the Browns hosted the Bengals.

Maybe Manziel never makes it. Maybe he cannot overcome his physical limitations or maybe Manziel’s personal demons prove to be too much for him to handle as he tries to be a capable NFL quarterback. As much as society enjoys watching falls from grace such as that experienced by Manziel over the past 12 months, we also love comeback stories that inspire hope. Manziel evolving into the savior of the Browns would be a sports tale for the decade, one that would make him an icon in Cleveland and the subject of a fascinating future 30 for 30 episode.

Steve Young didn’t get it right in his early days in the NFL. It is public knowledge that Brett Favre was a mess personally and professional during his brief stint with the Atlanta Falcons. Both of those men needed time and also the right scenarios to come along. The ideal situation is that Manziel is able to sit behind McCown for all of 2015 and develop as a professional in ways that he did not in 2014 en route to being handed the keys to the offense of the Browns next spring.

It is understandable that some Browns fans have been disappointed by what they have thus far seen from Manziel. The hate voiced by certain Cleveland sports talk radio callers and by members of the local media who seemingly cannot help but sound their hot takes on the player have got to disappear deep into Lake Erie. The Browns winning games with Manziel under center should be the dream had by anybody who calls himself a fan of the team, as the alternative is Cleveland once again hitting the figurative reset button as soon as January 2016.

That is a scenario no fan of the Browns should desire to see play out.

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