Former Cleveland Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel said he’s sober and determined to resume his NFL career.
In a message sent Friday to ESPN’s Ed Werder, Manziel wrote, “I refuse to let my entire life of sports from the age of 4 be squandered by partying. I just got sick of it. One day I didn’t like what I saw in the mirror and realized I could really help people in the position I’m in.
“I love sports, I love football and when you take something away from yourself you realize it the hard way. The happiness from doing it sober has been ASTRONOMICAL. Beyond my wildest imagination and once that continued other good things started happening in my life and it just clicked.”
Manziel’s message came one day after he tweeted that he’s trying to be a better person. He also thanked those who helped him during a “rough” 2016.
Manziel said his next priority is playing in the NFL.
“A pre season game, anything I don’t care what it is,” he wrote. “Only need one team to believe in me and I’ll do anything to make that a possibility.”
Manziel, whom the Browns chose with the 22nd pick in the 2014 draft, spent 10 weeks in rehab after his rookie season. He was suspended for the first four games of the 2016 season for violating the NFL’s substance-abuse policy. Manziel faced the threat of an additional suspension as the league investigated whether he violated its personal-conduct policy. But his season effectively ended last March, when the Browns released him.
Manziel, 24, is scheduled to make his first announced promotional appearance since his release. He’ll sign autographs in two memorabilia shops in Texas malls during Super Bowl week.
