“Silly me” : Skip Bayless apologizes to 2012 Heisman winner Johnny Manziel for the “extra pressure”going into NFL Draft
Johnny Manziel was one of the biggest college football stars when he played. Nicknamed "Johnny Football" Manziel brought the Texas A&M Aggies into the national conversation and was able to win the Heisman Trophy in his rookie season, being the first rookie to do so.
However, his off-the-field lifestyle overshadowed his football career, and Manziel felt this during draft night, where the once estimated number one pick fell down the board until the Cleveland Browns picked him with the 22nd pick of the draft.
On Wednesday's edition of Undisputed, Skip Bayless spoke with Manziel and apologized to him about the high expectations Bayless placed on Manziel.
" Silly me. I went so far as to say that you (Johnny Manziel) could become bigger in Cleveland than LeBron James... it didn't go that way. I guess I'm apologising to you. I hope I didn't increase the expectations of you to the highest of levels that you couldn't live up to"
While falling down to the 22nd pick may have affected the league's confidence in the abilities of Manziel, this did not stop Bayless from believing in him.
However, with hindsight, Bayless has now realized that these high expectations did not help Manziel.
Even before entering the NFL, Manziel had developed a reputation for being an incredibly strong player. While with the Aggies, Manziel broke numerous records at both the program level and at the conference level.
Johnny Manziel with the Cleveland Browns
Johnny Manziel entered the Browns team with the high expectations of not only the likes of Skip Bayless but the many fans who expected Manziel to play similarly to how he played in college.
In reality, Manziel was never able to live up to these expectations. He would be the backup quarterback to Brian Hoyer in his first season but would make his first professional start near the end of the season against the Cincinnati Bengals, throwing for only 80 yards and being sacked three times as the Browns did not put a single point on the board.
The majority of his short NFL career would be similar to this. For both seasons, Manziel was a backup quarterback and never truly had the opportunity to show the NFL what he could do. But when he sporadically had the opportunity to do so, he struggled.
In the end, the many controversies surrounding Johnny Manziel overshadowed his football career, and after two seasons, the Browns cut Manziel from their roster. He would never play on an NFL team again, and the next professional team that he would play on was the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, a Canadian football team.
The career of Johnny Manziel is a story of struggling to live up to the highest of expectations, something that Skip Bayless is regretting putting on the player.