AFL Could Do Johnny Manziel Some Good

The last thing Johnny Manziel needs right now is attention. It’s for that reason the Arena Football League may actually be good for him.

That’s not a shot at the AFL. It’s been around a long time, so it clearly has a dedicated fan base. Even so, it has nowhere near the media following of the NFL. It’s a place where players can go to play football without the hot glare of the cameras on them constantly. While that may be counterproductive for some, for a lightning rod for controversy like Manziel, it’s perfect.

Not only would it help him to get his football life back on track after an ugly falling out in Cleveland, it might provide the Arena League some credibility. That would explain why the league commissioner was quick to say the AFL is interested in such an arrangement.

"Arena Football League Commissioner Scott Butera told TMZ that his league would love to have Manziel.“We could provide a strong platform for him to demonstrate that he is back,” Butera said. “We would also work with him and provide him whatever help he needed to live a healthy life.”"

Manziel vowed he was ready to get himself sober and focused back on football by July 1st. It’s unclear whether that’s true, and with the AFL season almost over it will take time before anything develops. That being said, it’s not unheard of for quarterbacks to successfully use the Arena League as a platform to jump to the NFL.

Tommy Maddox, a former 1st round bust of Denver stepped away from football for a time. Then he returned via the New Jersey Red Dogs in 2000. He played so well that season the Pittsburgh Steelers offered him a contract the next year. Maddox became the starter and led them to the playoffs in 2002. Eventually he won a Super Bowl as backup to Ben Roethlisberger.

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Perhaps the greatest story was Kurt Warner. An undrafted kid out of Northern Iowa, he was stuck bagging groceries until the Iowa Barnstormers gave him a shot in 1995. Two Arena Bowl appearances later and he got one last shot at the NFL from the St. Louis Rams in 1997. He worked his way up to the backup job by 1999 when an injury to starter Trent Green elevated him to the top spot. Warner became league MVP and won the Super Bowl.

Could Johnny Manziel walk a similar path of redemption? Only if he’s willing to put his ego (and his bad habits) aside to embrace the opportunity.

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