Can Johnny Manziel Use the CFL to Get Back to the NFL?

It takes a firm commitment to keeping your body in perfect physical condition, understanding the game and learning the plays that are necessary on both offense and defense, and maintaining a winning attitude even if your team is not winning. These are core attributes that each player must subscribe to if they have any hope of lasting in professional sports.

But it takes much more than this, it takes focus on growing up from a college hero who is pampered and catered to and who had few demands other than playing the sport placed on him, to a responsible adult who manages his own behavior and steers away from trouble and troubling situations.

Perhaps too little attention is given to the amount of maturity necessary for professional athletes to become and remain successful in the sport they choose, because a lack of maturity is often what prevents them from making it or having a long productive career.

This is certainly the case with quarterback Johnny Manziel. The 2012 Heisman Trophy winner came out of college in 2012 and was selected by the Cleveland Browns with the 22nd pick of the draft. From the very beginning he was a polarizing figure with many predicting that his college quarterback style of play would not translate in the modern NFL.

In Cleveland he was given a chance to have his own franchise where he could thrive. His first opportunity produced a very rough start for the arrogant and undisciplined your Manziel. He showed flashes of brilliance at times but was wildly inconsistent and not able to execute many of the plays on the field leading some to believe that he had not studied the playbooks or practiced hard enough.

Then began a series of off the field incidents. He was caught on camera partying during the season and when he was injured there were reports that he was spotted at discos in Las Vegas. After mediocre performances throughout 2014 and 2015 he was dropped by Cleveland. When more late night partying incidents happened Manziel was not picked up by another team.

Johnny sat out the following three years and became a tabloid sensation. He was often spotted out in Hollywood drinking and getting into altercations and was arrested a few times, once for domestic abuse on his girlfriend. His low point came when his agent and biggest supporter, Erik Burkhardt, dumped him citing Johnny’s inability to stay sober and stop partying. It appeared that he would join the list of highly talented athletes whose lack of discipline sunk their careers until earlier this year Johnny announced that he was going to try and make a comeback to the NFL. He held a highly publicized training session in front of NBA and CFL scouts and some were impressed with his accuracy and arm strength. He also held interviews and gave good answers about his past and his current head space. None of this was good enough to get him even a

tryout for an NBA team, but it did put his name back in the news, but this time in a positive way.

This led to Johnny being signed by the CFL’s Hamilton Tigers as their backup quarterback and the return of his former agent Erik Burkhardt. During preseason, Johnny reminded us of his capabilities. He played well and has been staying on the straight and narrow. He has not seen any action in the team’s first two games but he remains ready to get on the field when needed.

This opportunity with the Tigers is no doubt Johnny’s last chance to show he can play professionally. If you are the type to make best on the CFL, you can try your luck on Johnny’s chances. His Hamilton Tigers play weekly among a slate of CFL games. For your best chance to win, use a winning online betting strategy that you can find at livebets.ca. Here you can bet on all the games.

It will take Johnny Manziel being a superstar on the field and able to handle himself off the field as well in order to convince those who has lost faith in him that he can in fact become a star quarterback. Only time will tell if Johnny can use this opportunity to work his way back to the NFL.

Advocating for football prospects one story at a time.

Tags:

Leave a Reply