Former Heisman Trophy winner and first-round draft pick Johnny Manziel has announced he will take part in a developmental spring football league as he attempts to return to the NFL.
The announcement was made on Wednesday, a day after Manziel was seen partying with fiancee Bre Tiesi in West Hollywood at the release of her new lingerie line, ‘SeMouiller.’
The 25-year-old Manziel, who admittedly battled drug and alcohol issues as well as his own bipolar disorder during his brief NFL career, has signed to play in The Spring League, which will run in his native Texas in March and April. Manziel recently worked out for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League, but has not signed a contract with that franchise.
Johnny Manziel and Bre Tiesi are both seen inside together Delilah celebrating the release of Bre Tiesi lingerie line ‘SeMouiller’ in West Hollywood
Johnny Manziel and Bre Tiesi share a kiss during the opening of her lingerie line on Tuesday
Manziel has said that Tiesi, an Instagram model who appeared on MTV’s ‘Wild ‘n Out,’ has been supportive in his efforts to turn his life around
‘Football has been a huge part of my life for as long as I can remember,’ Manziel said in a statement. ‘Sometimes you take for granted how much you value something until it’s gone. My goal is to make it back to the NFL and I realize I have to earn that privilege. The Spring League has provided me with a great opportunity to play ball again, and ultimately, that is all I want to do. I miss the competition.’
Manziel has not played in the NFL since 2015, by which point he had developed a reputation for partying and alcohol abuse after a series of arrests.
The Spring League is intended to help younger players develop their football skills while compiling in-game video footage that can be used by NFL scouts.
‘We believe our platform is the ideal forum for Mr. Manziel to enact his NFL comeback,’ said league CEO Brian Woods, who previously ran the now-defunct Fall Experimental Football League.
Manziel was taken with the 22nd pick of the 2014 NFL Draft but quickly flamed out the league after a series of off-field incidents
According to The Spring League website, the league’s four teams were scouted in person by 10 NFL teams last year while 22 teams requested game film.
In an interview with Good Morning America on Monday, Manziel revealed that he was self-medicating with alcohol and other substances back in 2016 when he got the boot from the Cleveland Browns after two seasons.
That has all changed now, however, with Manziel telling TJ Holmes that he is sober and on anti-depressants after being diagnosed as bipolar.
Manziel, 25, said that it was his mother, Michelle, who ultimately got him to put a stop to his destructive behavior and check into rehab, when she broke down in tears while speaking to her son one day.
In 2012, Johnny Manziel became the first freshman in history to win the Heisman Trophy
‘You don’t understand when people come up to us, like, “What the hell is your son doing?” I didn’t feel that until my mom said that,’ said Manziel.
‘She just broke down. She was crying. I saw the trickle-down effects of what I was doing in my daily life that were meaningless and pointless. And selfish.’
That was the push Manziel said he needed to quit drinking once and for all, following yet another trip to rehab.
‘Here’s how I look at it. Going back throughout the last couple of years of my life, I was self-medicating with alcohol,’ explained Manziel.
Manziel reacts late in the game against the Duke Blue Devils during the Chick-fil-A Bowl at the Georgia Dome on December 31, 2013
‘I thought it was making me happy and get out of the depression to a point of where I felt I had some sense of happiness inspect at the end of the day, you’re left staring at the ceiling.’
He then added: ‘Back in the depression and the hole, the dark hole of sitting in a room by yourself being super-depressed, thinking about all the mistakes you have made in your life. What did that get me? What did that get me besides out of the NFL? Where did that get me? Disgrace.’
Manziel also admitted that his sense of entitlement did not help matters.
‘I went a solid five months until I fell back into a bit of a depression where I didn’t drink. I didn’t do anything. But still, you know, I was going to therapy,’ said Manziel.
‘And the difference that I know this year is, I started taking a look at my mental health a little bit and making it a priority in my life and [Manziel’s fiancee] Bre making it a priority in my life. To where I’m taking medication for bipolar.’
He continued: ‘I’m working to try to make sure I don’t fall back into any type of depression. I know where that leads me and I know how slippery of a slope that is for me.’
Manziel said that he was diagnosed as bipolar a year ago, and it was soon after that when he checked into rehab.
‘I went to a facility in California. At the end of the day, I can’t help that my wires are differently crossed than yours. I can’t help my mental makeup of the the way I was created,’ explained Manziel.
‘But I know that if I stay on the meds and continue to do what I’m doing right now, I think my dad, my mom, I think Bre would all agree that they’ve seen a drastic change.’
Manziel then addressed what this might mean for his possible NFL comeback.
‘Now, the question that you asked was, is that sustainable and will that be the case moving forward? I would like to say yes. I have a lot of confidence that that would be the case,’ said Manziel.
‘But at the end of the day, it’s to be seen. I’m still moving forward. I’m doing the little meticulous things I have to do try to keep this right over anything else is what means the most to me. So, the main thing to me is not physical health. It’s mental.’