Johnny Manziel seems to be coming to terms with the fact that his football career is over.
Manziel had a brief stint in the now-defunct Alliance of American Football in 2019, but hasn’t played anywhere since. That may prove to be it for the 27-year-old, who admitted that he’s now more focused on finding happiness off the field.
“In the past, probably, is the way I’d characterize it,” Manziel told Don Williams of the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. “I’ve finally got to a point where I’m trying to achieve happiness in life, not happiness on the football field.
“I know a lot of people probably want me to come back and play and give it another chance, but I don’t know, as far as being a person and figuring out life as a young adult — trying to make it and figure it out — if I’ve ever been in a better place than I’m in right now. I can honestly say I’m happy and I’m doing the right things to try and put a smile on my face every day, and that means more to me than going out and grinding on a football field.”
Photo: Getty Images
Manziel last played in the NFL in 2015. After three years away from the sport, he returned to the game in the CFL in 2018, first with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats under June Jones. He was traded to the Montreal Alouettes where he finished the season on an upward trend, but an unnamed, offseason violation of an agreement with the CFL saw him banned from the league for good.
So, even at other levels of professional football, Manziel has not had the impact many thought he should have. He seemed to show some brief interest in the XFL, but nothing ever came of it before that league went under.
Photo: Dave Einsel Associated Press
If Manziel is happy with where he is in life, that’s fantastic for him. He’s dealt with a lot of personal problems, some of them self-induced, that played a role in costing him a football career. There’s no reason for him to keep pushing for that career if he’s content and comfortable with how things are for him now.
Article originally written by Greg Papke in Larry Brown Sports