{"id":213838,"date":"2025-07-17T09:20:14","date_gmt":"2025-07-17T09:20:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/213838\/"},"modified":"2025-07-17T09:20:14","modified_gmt":"2025-07-17T09:20:14","slug":"johnny-manziel-considered-an-nfl-comeback-attempt-almost-a-decade-after-his-browns-flameout","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/213838\/","title":{"rendered":"Johnny Manziel considered an NFL comeback attempt almost a decade after his Browns flameout"},"content":{"rendered":"

Johnny Manziel wanted to return to the NFL \u2014 nearly a decade after his last game in the league.<\/p>\n

The 32-year-old former quarterback revealed on Logan Paul\u2019s \u201cImpaulsive\u201d podcast<\/a> that he worked out a bit last year in hopes of getting another chance after getting asked if it was too late to get another crack in the league.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI asked myself this question last year,\u201d Manziel said. \u201cGot myself into a mindset of like, \u2018OK, I\u2019m going to go start working out again, throwing the football around, see if I can still get myself in shape.’\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Johnny<\/p>\n

Johnny Manziel appears on Logan Paul\u2019s podcast. Impaulsive\/YouTube<\/p>\n

\"Johnny<\/p>\n

Johnny Manziel of the Cleveland Browns runs for a touchdown against the Buffalo Bills during the second half at Ralph Wilson Stadium on November 30, 2014 in Orchard Park, New York. Getty Images<\/p>\n

Manziel, who was drafted No. 22 overall by the Browns in 2014, added that he did not want to just play pro football but that he would only return to the game if he got an opportunity to play in the NFL.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember calling my agent, being like, \u2018I think I\u2019m gonna try and make a comeback.\u2019 He\u2019s like, \u2018OK, we\u2019ll start talking with some guys, UFL, XFL,’\u201d Manziel said. \u201cAnd I\u2019m just sitting there thinking like, \u2018There\u2019s no way I\u2019m going back to f\u2013king play in one of these early leagues\u2026 UFL\u2026 XFL\u2026 Anything like that.’\u201d<\/p>\n

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The Texas A&M legend was one of the best quarterbacks in college football in 2013 and 2014, winning the Heisman Trophy as a freshman.<\/p>\n

His well-known partying lifestyle, off-field scandals and watching \u201czero\u201d game film<\/a> did not help his career, which he talked about in a 2023 Netflix documentary<\/a>. Manziel was seen as a possibility as a top-five talent in the 2014 NFL Draft but slipped to Cleveland late in the first round.<\/p>\n

He later admitted he attempted suicide after being release by Cleveland.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think I was just running from problems,\u201d Manziel said in \u201cUntold: Johnny Football.\u201d<\/a> \u201cDirect self-sabotage, trying to burn this thing down. I had planned to do everything that I wanted to do at that point in my life. Spend as much money as I possibly could, and then my plan was to take my life.<\/p>\n

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\u201cMonths prior, went and bought a gun that I knew I was gonna use. I wanted it to get as bad as humanly possible to where it made sense, and it made it seem like an excuse and an out for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

He lasted just two years with the Browns with a 74.4 quarterback rating before his NFL career was over.<\/p>\n

\"Manziel<\/p>\n

Manziel at a press conference after a 2016 Browns loss to the Seahawks AP<\/p>\n

\"Manziel<\/p>\n

Manziel playing in the CFL for the Montreal Alouettes AP<\/p>\n

After his short NFL tenure, he bounced around the CFL, Alliance of American Football and the Fan Controlled Football league.<\/p>\n

Even though Manziel would like to return to the game\u2019s top league, he admitted to Paul that his chances of making it are slim.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs much as I would like to think that that\u2019s something I can do, I think at 32, my chances are probably pretty chopped,\u201d Manziel said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Johnny Manziel wanted to return to the NFL \u2014 nearly a decade after his last game in the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":213839,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[53,54,7,13456,12815,6,238,582],"class_list":{"0":"post-213838","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nfl","8":"tag-buffalo-bills","9":"tag-cleveland-browns","10":"tag-football","11":"tag-johnny-manziel","12":"tag-logan-paul","13":"tag-nfl","14":"tag-seahawks","15":"tag-the-browns"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114867838967113307","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213838","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=213838"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213838\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/213839"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=213838"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=213838"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=213838"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}