Cleveland Browns: 2015 Year Of Redemption For Johnny Manziel

By Mike Pendleton | Aug 24, 2015

Imagine for a minute that you’re the BMOC (Big Man On Campus) and you have NFL stardom before you even reach the league, and then when you get ready to enter the league your posse grows even more and the list of celebrity friends gets bigger. It would be a sweet life to live if everywhere you went the spotlight followed and it seemed like you could do no wrong, until the NFL put you on your rear end.

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If any of the following would apply, you would be Cleveland Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel, and entering your sophomore season, almost everyone would have your career written off as a failure. However, the Johnny Football character has been brushed aside, the money sign has been retired, and halfway through the preseason, Manziel looks like a football player, not a celebrity.

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Everywhere he goes, every throw he attempts, and every decision he makes on and off the football field, Johnny Manziel is under a magnifying glass filled with more critics than hopefuls. Fast forward to the upcoming 2015 season and Manziel is competiting against veteran journeyman Josh McCown for a starting job that head coach Mike Pettine has maintained McCown has a hold of.

While his success in the preseason has come against non-starters, Manziel’s success has also come with a lot less attention. No one is blowing up social media with Manziel touchdowns or big plays like they would have his rookie season and the big networks aren’t leading their nightly recap shows with Manziel’s play at the top of the list.

One big change Manziel has coming into his second season is the attention (and respect) of his teammates, including franchise-star left tackle, Joe Thomas. As Manziel has progressed, Thomas has noticed and he’s made it known that Johnny Manziel the football player has grown up a lot from his rookie character.

While everyone has written him off and the coaching staff has humbled him, Johnny Manziel’s career is just getting started, and an early setback shouldn’t mean his career is over. In 2015, Johnny Manziel won’t be handed a job, he’s barely been handed any praise for his strong play early on, but if he continues to make strides as a player and a person, he could truly set himself up for future success.

Future success for Manziel doesn’t mean getting his star celebrity status back. Manziel’s success means the Cleveland Browns faith in him will have paid off for the team, and that will likely lead to wins for a team and a city that has gone through quarterback hell.

It’s been easy to write off Johnny Manziel after just one season and a roller coaster off-season, but he’s shown early on that he cares more about being a football player than a celebrity in 2015.

Next: Johnny Manziel Not Ready To Start Yet

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