Former GM Blames Cleveland Browns For Johnny Manziel Debacle

Ray Farmer, the former general manager of the Cleveland Browns has finally broken his silence about how things went so wrong for Johnny Manziel.

This would of course be the one player he’s most likely to defend because it’s fast becoming obvious that Manziel may be in the running for one of the five biggest busts in NFL draft history. A dynamic and game-changing player at Texas A&M who came in with questions of maturity that only an organization with stability could’ve possibly handled. In retrospect the Browns, a team that has had five different head coaches from 2008 to 2015, were perhaps the worst possible team for him to land on.

Speaking on ESPN’s NFL Insiders program, Farmer made it clear that for all the blame Manziel receives for his behavior, the fact is the Browns had a huge hand in that failure.

More from NFL Mocks

"“In Johnny’s case, I truly feel like a lot of people piled on the young man,” Farmer said. “He’s done his share of helping everybody get on top of that bandwagon, but the reality is the responsibility is borne by both the club, and the player.”When asked why he feels Johnny Manziel was such a difficult player to work with, Farmer again cited the amount of attention that was on the quarterback before he ever got to the league.“It’s celebrity,” Farmer said. “This player had unique celebrity that I don’t think the league has seen in a lot of different players. A lot of guys come to the NFL and make their celebrity there, this young man came in with a Rolling Stone magazine cover type of persona. That brings a whole new element of how you try to handle the person that comes with it.”"

Farmer himself can’t escape that umbrella of blame. He brought unwanted distractions to the table just like everybody else when he showcased a disconnect with the coaching staff by texting them with complaints about play calling during games. It’s clear there was never a well thought-out plan in place to handle a player with the magnitude of star power, and maintenance of a Johnny Manziel. The team just saw a potential star at a position they’ve had so much hardship with over the years and they snapped at the bait before checking to see if it was poisoned.

Farmer certainly has a lot of guts for dropping blame on the Cleveland Browns for that failure considering he was supposed to be the one who had final say on the decision to draft him in the first place. If he was unsure about whether the organization could handle Manziel, then he should’ve avoided the matter altogether. Maybe that’s why he’s no longer a GM.

Home/NFL News