Mature Johnny Manziel Can Still Save The Cleveland Browns

Jun 16, 2015; Berea, OH, USA; Cleveland Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel (2) during minicamp at the Cleveland Browns practice facility. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports

Ability has nothing to do with why so many people already believe quarterback Johnny Manziel is a lost cause. The kid was a 1st round pick for a reason. He’s strong, tough and remarkably mobile and instinctive despite sporting a smaller-than-average frame. His highlights at Texas A&M weren’t doctored. It’s proof he knows how to play the game of football.

No, the reason he has disappeared from the landscape of NFL thought so quickly was an ugly rookie season marred by a clear lack of mental commitment to the game followed closely by a commitment into a rehab center.

It took him barely a year to fulfill every doubt and criticism made on him coming out of college: too immature for his own good.

Thus the assumptions by many he’s a lost cause. The Cleveland Browns however have made it plain that is just not the case.

Maybe not the most popular decision at this point in time, but it’s the right one. It must be understood that rookie seasons don’t always go as planned, but more than that is the simple situation as it is. Manziel is 22-years old. He’s still just a kid and learning the pitfalls of what it’s like to be a responsible adult. What kind of message is the team sending by abandoning him after one year?

The fact that they have no patience and don’t understand maturity takes longer for some than it does others. It’s the job of the team to give them the required three-year window to figure it out. That is how draft picks work. Pick the player, devote the time to helping them learn the pro game and hope for the best.

Johnny Manziel suffered through a very humbling experience last season. Such events tend to change a person, often for the better. Pete Carroll was a washout in both New York and New England as a head coach. Only after gaining experience did he learn not just about the game itself but how he wants to fit in it.

Now he’s one of the best in the league.

Manziel can still get onto that path if he wants to. Provided the Cleveland Browns really do give him that chance.

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