Well, another NFL season has come and gone and mid-February has started to really come down hard on every football fan not from Philadelphia.
Most fans whose teams fell short of a Super Bowl title are trapped in the off-season dilemma between reliving their season and looking ahead to the next one. This time of the year is truly grueling for those on social media; their feeds have undoubtedly become cluttered with mock drafts for the 2018 NFL Draft two months from now and a little too much LeBron James.
However, one thing that football fans can look forward to at this time of the year is the impending comeback of a noteworthy free agent or retired NFL player. It happens every year; people start to ask questions like will Tim Tebow come back? or is Marshawn Lynch returning? And every year since he was famously cut from the Cleveland Browns in 2015, fans have waited for the possibility of a Johnny “Football” Manziel comeback.
It’s finally here. Reports have surfaced that Johnny Manziel has joined The Spring League––a developmental league for professional football held in Austin, TX. Manziel posted on Twitter confirming.
If you want to talk about a comeback story, here it is folks. This is the same Johnny Manziel who admitted himself into rehab for alcohol and drug abuse; yes, this is the same Johnny Manziel who was indicted on misdemeanor assault charges and the Johnny Manziel who missed a regular season game against the Steelers with a concussion but was seen the night before partying in Las Vegas.
We’re also talking about the same Johnny Manziel who was the first freshman ever to win the Heisman trophy; the same Manziel who, as a freshman at Texas A&M, threw for over 3,700 yards and rushed for over 1,400 more––the first college quarterback to do so––and the same Johnny Manziel who gave the Browns their second most recent win in the past three seasons––Week 14 of 2015.
I couldn’t be more excited for the possibility of a Money Manziel return for two good reasons. One: the quarterback position in the NFL has flat out sucked the past couple of years. Of the 32 leaders in each category, quarterbacks in 2017 averaged 200 less total yards and 4 less total touchdowns than last year. In addition, injuries to some of the NFL’s best QBs (see Aaron Rodgers, Deshaun Watson, and Andrew Luck) left fans with the likes of Josh McCown, Jacoby Brissett, DeShone Kizer, Jay Cutler, Trevor Siemian, Tom Savage, and the list goes on. Not only are most of these quarterbacks wildly unexciting, but they’re also simply bad.
The quarterback problem in the NFL can be solved, and will be solved soon. The return of these injured QBs and a promising upcoming draft class will aid the improvement of the 2019 NFL quarterback pool. But one thing seems to be missing––an outrageous, polarizing figure who can put a franchise back on the map, and it may be a few years before Baker Mayfield becomes this figure. It’s time to bring back Money Manziel––one of the most polarizing quarterbacks in NCAA and NFL history (even after only 8 NFL starts).
“After watching two full seasons of football on the couch… I had to get back on the football field. I have a guaranteed contract offer where I will be able to play somewhere this year… I will be back” (Johnny Manziel on Barstool Sports’ “Pardon My Take” podcast)
Manziel didn’t offer any clarity on the specifics of this “guaranteed contract,” but I would speculate that any guaranteed roster spot from a team owner would come from above the border. In all honesty, I like the move to sign with a CFL team to get his legs back underneath him. Eventually, though, Manziel’s endgame is certainly to sign with an NFL team. But if it doesn’t end up happening this season, I would be perfectly satisfied with a Johnny Canadian Football appearance.
Manziel was recently seen quoting Skylar Grey, saying "I'm coming home. I'm coming home. Tell the world I'm coming home. Let the rain wash away, all the pain of yesterday. I know my kingdom awaits, and they've forgiven my mistakes. I'm coming home. I'm coming home. Tell the world that I'm coming."
(Photo via Timothy T. Ludwig/USA TODAY Sports)
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