When the Cleveland Browns decided to bench Johnny Manziel and the media decided to pile on after video emerged of the troubled quarterback parting in Texas during the team’s bye week, a lot of folks defended by Manziel by declaring that he didn’t break any laws and wasn’t doing something that a lot of NFL players do.
They’re right, but like it or not, Manziel is different.
I know, Rob Gronkowski parties and we all laugh along with him. What’s with the double standard?
But like it or not, the standards are different.
Gronkowski isn’t a quarterback. And in 2015, quarterbacks are supposed to be example-setters. Frankly, during the season, they’re supposed to be focused hermits. Name another starting NFL quarterback spotted partying on a consistent basis between September and January. It doesn’t happen, and quarterbacks have to understand that their position — which pays them handsomely — requires them to be nerds for at least four months a year.
And in Manziel’s case, 12 months a year.
See, Gronkowski also hasn’t been arrested or checked into rehab. while Manziel is less than a year removed from the latter. He’s been working to regain the trust of his employers, so he really had no business patronizing anything resembling a bar.
“We all know what happened and what got put out there, and it led to much disappointment, frustration, however you want to term it,” Browns head coach Pettine said Tuesday, noting that the bye week served as a test for Manziel (one which he clearly failed). “It was something we felt had violated the trust that we had put in him for the bye coming out of the Pittsburgh game.”
Maybe Manziel wasn’t drinking last weekend. Maybe he was just hanging with friends. That, however, hardly matters. Regardless of what was at play, this is simply another indication that the 22-year-old lacks the discipline, the self-awareness and — arguably most importantly — the brains to be a successful NFL quarterback.
