'It's Over': Aggies Legend Johnny Manziel Reflects - And Returns to 7-on-7
Johnny Manziel is just 29 years old. But he's lived a lifetime of competitiveness at the highest level ... and now he's done.
“I don’t have the drive to play football at a high level anymore,'' the former Texas A&M star told ESPN. "I don’t have a drive to be the best football player anymore that I used to have in my life, and I’m OK with that.''
Manziel has been among the best players in multiple sports at multiple levels and then won the Heisman Trophy at Texas A&M. He was an iconic figure - so much so that even him not being drafted by the Dallas Cowboys has resulted in a mythical legend.
But his NFL career didn't work out, even after the Cleveland Browns selected him in the first round of the 2014 NFL Draft.
Most would argue that off-the-field issues (Manziel mentions depression and alcohol abuse) were central to the fact that he lasted just two years in Cleveland before his dalliances with the Canadian Football League and the Alliance of American Football.
So now? He's sticking with a 7-on-7 indoor league - "Fan Controlled Football,'' where he played last season as well. The league, The league, which plays in an Atlanta indoor facility starting on April 16 and is broadcast primarily on Twitch, is competitive to a point.
But it's not a stepping stone back to the NFL. And that's fine with "Johnny Football.''
“I had an ample amount of opportunities to put my career on a different path, and for whatever reason it was, whether it was me being young or just not seeing life through the right lens at that point in time, I squandered a good opportunity,” Manziel said. “The more I look back on my life and continue to reflect and try to bury some things and put some things in the past, that’s one thing that I decided to do, was to let (football) go and let that be what it is. Life goes the way it goes sometimes.”
"I’ve come to terms with what my football career was,'' Manziel said. "In my eyes, it is over."