Johnny Manziel is starting this week, and presumably for the rest of the season, but only if he doesn’t get caught drinking again. Browns coach Mike Pettine has struggled with the team’s quarterback situation all year, and had more difficulty when Manziel was filmed at a boozy party over the team’s bye week.
Manziel is not a normal case. He was in rehab for most of the offseason, and had a reputation for drinking in college. Pettine acknowledged that history, and that Browns shot-callers underestimated the severity of his drinking problem.
Pettine Should Keep Manziel On The Bench, Not Enable His Drinking
“I don’t think we anticipated that his problems, his issues, how deep-rooted they were, the extent of it,” Pettine said. He also hinted that the team is close to the end of its rope with Manziel. “If something were to occur, I imagine the repercussions would be harsh.”
Cleveland’s methods for handling Manziel’s problem with alcohol is a “ludicrous and objectively ineffective” plan of action, because they are not treating it the way a disease should be treated, according to Barry Petchesky of Deadspin. Petchesky wrote that Manziel’s patterns show the symptoms of alcoholism, which is considered a mental health disorder. These symptoms include attending rehab, allowing the drinking to affect work life, using drinking to deal with stress, and lying about it.
Johnny Football Might Run Himself Out Of The NFL
If the Browns truly believe Manziel can be the quarterback of the future – and his play on the field leaves that very much in doubt – then Cleveland should consider deactivating him for the remainder of this lost season, and getting him more treatment with the expectation that he will compete for the starting job in 2016.
The alternative that Manziel is facing right now is a high-stress, three-week audition to prove his worth which may lead him to drink more, especially if the games don’t go well. CC Sabathia, once the ace of the Yankees, left the team for rehab days before they were set to begin the MLB playoffs. Alcoholism is that serious, and if indeed Manziel is struggling with it, the medicine is not starting in football games.
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