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Cleveland Browns: Is Johnny ‘Money’ Manziel Gone For Good?

By Joel Childers

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In his first 2015 preseason outing, Cleveland Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel had, in the words of his coach a “pretty solid” game. On his second possession, Manziel completed a pair of passes before scrambling for a 12-yard touchdown. After the score, he celebrated with a subtle fist-pump before turning to greet his teammates who congratulated him for his run.

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For most players, this would seem to be a fair straightforward celebration for an admittedly excellent play, but this is ‘Money Manziel’, the pride and joy of Texas A&M University. Maybe you know him better as ‘Johnny Football’.

Whatever name you know him by, one of the last things Johnny Manziel would be described as is subtle. Yet that’s just what this celebration was, despite Manziel’s display of talent and vision. Sure, it’s the preseason and for the most part players don’t get too excited, and yes it was only the second quarter of what would be a 20-17 Browns lost, but Manziel’s lack of an overt celebration is due to more than just these factors.

SEE ALSO: 30 Greatest QBs of All-Time

This offseason, Manziel has made a clear and concerted effort to change his image and his persona in an attempt to improve his life both on and off the field. This included meeting with various mentors and advisors, and checking himself into a voluntary drug and alcohol rehabilitation program. He himself has been vocal about a desire to do things differently than he did in his rookie season, and those around him feel so too, including Browns Pro-Bowl tackle Joe Thomas: (via NFL.com’s Marc Sessler)

"“The way he is now is night and day from last year,” Thomas said, “He has a bright future ahead of him… It’s pretty apparent he’s realized how important football is to him. He’s realized you can’t get away with some of the things he did in college because it’s a big boy’s game now.”"

One of the things that Manziel has apparently decided to change from what he did in college, and even his rookie season, is his signature ‘money sign’ celebration that gave him the nickname ‘Money Manziel’. He first announced that he would no longer use this celebration in the middle of June, but it wasn’t until now that we’ve actually seen him prove it.

The question that remains, however, is whether or not this behavior will continue, or if he will go back on his decision to no longer celebrate in this way. It’s certainly true that having a signature big-play celebration does not mean that a player cannot be successful.

Aaron Rodgers has the Discount Double-Check, Rob Gronkowski has the Gronk-Spike, Jimmy Graham used to dunk balls over the goalpost, Arian Foster does his bow, Colin Kaepernick kisses his biceps, Cam Newton pretends to be Superman, Victor Cruz does the salsa, and plenty of other players have plenty of other signature celebrations. So why can’t Manziel?

For Johnny Football, ditching his signature celebration has less to do with what the celebration actually is, and more to do with what it means. For him, the celebration symbolizes a certain confidence and self-assuredness that comes from winning the Heisman trophy as a freshman and being one of the most exciting players in college football.

The NFL is a little bit different. Manziel learned that last season when he completed just over 50% of his passes for only 175 yards, 0 touchdowns, and 2 interceptions. He finished the season 0-2 as a starter. Going into his second year, he doesn’t have a whole lot to be confident about.

Instead, he is trying to humble himself and get back to basics, and hopefully be a more successful NFL player has he heads into his second year in the league. For him, one of the pieces to that is eliminating some of his habits that are reminiscent of his cocky college days. He claims to be putting those days behind him:

"“Last year is last year; it was what it was and it was not very good,” Manziel said, according to Austin Knoblauch of the LA Times. “So for me, I’m trying to close that chapter and just build on what I’ve done so far this year and just move forward and try to close that chapter in my life. Not one that I’m very proud of, not one that I want to look back on very much and dwell on, that’s for sure.”"

For now at least, it appears Manziel truly is ditching his signature money sign celebration, but that doesn’t have to mean it is gone forever. If he can truly figure out his life both on and off of the field, and be the NFL quarterback that he and the Cleveland Browns hope he can be, be on the lookout for Money Manziel in a stadium near you. But hopefully he can keep this to a minimum until he’s truly established himself as a solid NFL player.

Next: McCown, Manziel Impressive For Browns Against Redskins

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