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Johnny Manziel pulls into NFL Rookie Symposium in Aurora on Wednesday


Welcome, rookies: All 256 players taken in the 2014 NFL draft will descend on The Bertram Hotel in Aurora this week for the 17th annual Rookie Symposium, a.k.a. the “Don’t Do This” Conference.

The rookies are divided into NFC and AFC groupings. Each group spends four days listening to lectures on NFL history, total wellness, professional experience and workplace conduct.

NFC rookies arrived on Sunday; AFC rookies arrive on Wednesday. Each group’s four-day symposium includes a visit to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton and a morning participation at the NFL Play 60 youth clinic at Browns headquarters. NFC rookies host the clinic on Tuesday; AFC rookies on Friday.

The symposium is a great effort by the NFL to educate incoming players on the perils of newfound fame and riches and the importance of making good choices. Players hear horror stories from active and former players about their careers railroaded by DUIs and drug abuse and small fortunes wasted on impulse purchases and taking care of personal entourages.

There are no special breakout sessions on the do’s-and-don’ts of champagne spraying, inflatable swan floating or money-phone etiquette. Johnny Manziel, who may be an expert on such things, will not be a keynote speaker but is scheduled to be in attendance with AFC rookies.

On Sunday, I asked Dwight Hollier, a former NFL player and currently director of transition and clinical services for NFL Player Engagement, if Manziel can be “saved” from self-destruction through this program.

“I don’t want to single out any one person,” said Hollier, who is a licensed professional counselor. “I think every year these programs are effective. They don’t hit every guy but I believe we are effective in letting all the rookies recognize the resources we offer.”

I asked Hollier how long it generally takes for a new player in the NFL to “get it” – to realize how to conduct himself in a professional manner on and off the field.

“It’s hard to predict,” Hollier said. “There are guys who conduct themselves with maturity from Day One. Everybody is different.

“When I was a rookie, I acted and carried myself the way I thought I should carry myself. It took a few years for the experienced players to get through to me. I was just immature and naïve and figuring things out on my own. I didn’t do anything outrageous, but it just took time to be able to make the right choices.”

The hope is that somebody will get through to Manziel this week. Brady Quinn is not one of the speakers, by the way, but his message would suffice.


http://espncleveland.com/common/more.php?m=49&action=blog&r=17&post_id=34001

Hey, Mary Kay: I am a longtime Browns fan who continues to be concerned about Johnny Manziel's childish behavior. He hasn't played an NFL snap and in my opinion has been a major distraction. Isn't it time for him to man up and act like a Brown?

- Larry Smith, Lexington , Ky.

Hey Larry: Yes, it is time for Johnny Manziel to buckle down and focus on winning the starting quarterback job. It's also time for the Browns and other people in Manziel's life to pull him aside and address his drinking. I'm guessing the Browns are already doing this, but keeping it private. With the pattern Manziel has shown since being drafted, it's time to have him evaluated by a chemical dependency counselor to make sure he doesn't have a problem. If he checks out okay, he needs to follow Joe Haden's advice: when he and his friends are out, put away the phones.


http://www.cleveland.com/browns/index.ssf/2014/06/is_it_time_for_johnny_manziel.html

I don't believe Manziel has actually done anything that screams out he needs to be saved per say.

What I believe he needs to learn is to be careful in choosing your friends and where you go. At 21, hanging out and doing a little partying isn't anything out of the ordinary.

Learning to surround yourself with people and putting yourself in places that keep these things out of the media spotlight is the real issue here IMO

"act like a Brown" Yikes. Does that mean we want him to be a perennial loser? If we're going to be honest the best Browns player makes Johnny look like a choir boy.

JC:

So what's the Manziel thread count up to now?

What a stupid article.

I read an article from Doyel on cbs.sportsline.com and he pleaded with Johnny to lay low so we don't have to keep talking about it. THEN STOP WRITING ARTICLES ABOUT HIM! Let the Twitter world capture his life on a swan swim raft. If you don't cover it every day in the media, most people won't know about it. Let it go.

Quote:

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Can the NFL Rookie Symposium save Johnny Manziel from self-destruction?

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Assuming that he needs saving.... No.

The symposium will be a bunch of information and advice. Whether or not any of it is heeded or implemented and put into his life is up to him. Either he will save himself, or he won't. The symposium, at most, will offer some moments of clarity and insight.

There is no denying however that, this going on his third weekend in a row being spotted drinking by TMZ that it is at the very least, something that raises your eyebrow.



http://www.tmz.com/2014/06/23/johnny-manziel-champagne-sippin-during-u-s-world-cup-match/

j/c

thanks. I didn't see this one. only looked down and saw the other manziel thread locked lol.

Quote:

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There is no denying however that, this going on his third weekend in a row being spotted drinking by TMZ that it is at the very least, something that raises your eyebrow.

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Did he get any DUI's? Has he been arrested for public intoxication or disorderly conduct? No. Well my eyebrows will raise when stuff like that appears. Otherwise it just looks like a 21yo kid went to the bar and drank while watching sports. Something that happens every single day of the year. This is only news worthy because it's Johnny Football.

It's the offseason and he is back home having fun. /shrug

Like I've said before, my biggest concerns about Manziel coming out were size, work ethic, and my impression that he's a moron.

He's making the latter two concerns grow by the day.

I do wonder how many single players would present a similar image if they were being followed to the extent that Manziel is. Face it, the cameras are out left and right every time he goes anywhere.

j/c

The media isn't suddenly going to stop following Johnny Football. He is a target of the media. He was a similar target at A&M. I mean that's all we heard about for months. If people don't feel the public perception of Manziel doesn't reflect on the Browns, I believe you're dead wrong.

It's part of the game and a part of public perception. I'd be wiling to bet the Browns FO and coaching staff aren't thrilled with it in private. Publicly they're not going to say anything. But if you believe Haden just goes around making comments on things that aren't really seen as an issue, we disagree again.

Johnny Football does need to watch who he hangs out with. He does need to be more choosey about where he hangs out. Neither he nor the Browns need the bad publicity because he isn't making wiser decisions about these things.

People can keep making excuses why being made a public spectacle is perfectly okay. He can still party and have fun, all while keeping out of the spotlight by making better choices. If people wish to keep making excuses for the fact it appears he either doesn't care or he doesn't have the common sense to do that, go right ahead.

I confess to being a little concerned at the end of June.. However, if this is happening in August, I'll be very irritated.

I don't want people to get the wrong impression. I don't see anything wrong with a 21 year old having fun. But he could certainly accomplish the same thing while staying out of the media if he just used his head.

Gasp! 3 weekends in a row

I don't like the guy but I went out drinking every weekend the year I turned 21.

You guys are a bunch of old fuddy-duddies.
He should lead the lives that you guys lead,relaxing in the easy chair,drink acoupla beers,pass out to the evening news.
He's drinking champagne out of the bottle,and look at those chicks.He's probably bangin all of them.Good for that young man.
I have more to say,but it's time for the news and I'm sleepy.

Yes, obviously BC Brownie doesn't actually read the posts of those he responds to.

It appears as tho we both made it past Dan Rather this evening.
I read your post and responded to it.
Your older,you've gained wisdom and experience,but you've forgotten what it was like to be 21.
That kid just got out of college,just got a huge payday,and he doesn't have to go to work on Monday.
Where exactly is that kid going to go to escape the limelight?Any place he goes,anything he does is going to be captured by some putz on facebook,and then by that lite in the loafers gang on TMZ.

Yeah, you almost gotta feel bad for him until you think of all the money he's making... and the commercials haven't even started. I remember when even Brady Quinn got a commercial or two, and Johnny Football will demand much more popularity than Quinn.

But still, feel bad he can't go anywhere without someone waiting with their eyes and a finger on the camera's snap button. He's a kid. I mean the money phone was a bit silly but hey, he's a kid for the most part!

I believe PDR pretty much covered it. Many establishments arrange private areas and VIP areas for celebrities. Think of all of the celebrity athletes who party that don't end up in such situations. How do they all manage to do it?

All you have to do is choose your friends wisely and be smart about it. Either that, or you're choosing to put yourself in these situations.

I mean whether you wish to admit it or not, even Joe Haden explained it goes on with many athletes yet they know how to avoid being in the press. I believe him and he would certainly be someone who has experience in that department.

If you choose to dismiss what Haden said and consider Johnny Football some type of victim of the press, you have every right to do that. But please, you have to understand that while so many high exposure athletes in the past decade have all managed to have a good time and avoid such things, I simply don't buy into that logic.

While he's not the star of the commercial, he has done one that I know of.

Nate Ulrich: It’s time for Browns to urge Johnny Manziel to fulfill pre-draft promises about slowing down off the field

The Browns need to tell Johnny Manziel to slow down. If they’ve already delivered the message, they should do it again. They should do it every chance they get because, well, the celebrity rookie continues to party every chance he gets.

A month ago, I defended the trip Manziel took to Las Vegas during Memorial Day weekend because I believe Johnny Football could let loose poolside and even spray champagne into a crowd at a nightclub in late May without those activities precluding him from becoming a successful quarterback for the Browns. But I also wrote that Manziel would deserve criticism for having his priorities out of whack and lacking commitment if he continued to tear it up with great frequency.

Since the Vegas vacation, Manziel hasn’t taken a weekend off from partying. His living-life-to-the-fullest streak extended to five consecutive weekends when he went out Friday, Saturday and Sunday in Houston, as documented on social media and then passed along by BustedCoverage.com.

TMZ.com published a photograph of Manziel drinking from a bottle of champagne Sunday while watching the World Cup in a pub and sports bar. He was in Houston the previous weekend, too, barely able to keep his eyes open as he pretended a stack of cold, hard cash was a phone while dropping an F-bomb on video. Let’s not forget the bottle of alcohol atop an inflatable swan the weekend before in Austin, Texas, and the Los Angeles nightclub rendezvous with rapper Drake while in town for the NFL Players Association Rookie Premiere late last month.

We’ve reached the point where some of you will scoff — if you haven’t already — because there have been no indications that Manziel has done anything illegal. He’s 21 and many people his age party and drink on a regular basis. I readily admit I was one of them.

But I never received an $8.25 million contract to play quarterback for an NFL franchise. Yes, New York Jets great Joe Namath won a Super Bowl and became a Hall of Fame quarterback despite acting like a wild man in the ’60s and ’70s, though it’s hardly a recipe for success.

This week, Manziel should receive valuable reminders along those lines.

The NFL Rookie Symposium is underway in Aurora. The NFC players arrived Sunday and will be schooled through Wednesday. Their AFC counterparts, including Manziel and the Browns’ other five picks from this year’s draft, will arrive Wednesday and attend the orientation through Saturday.

As described by the NFL, the symposium includes presentations, videos and workshops on player health and safety, decision-making, mental health, substance abuse, workplace respect and maintaining positive relationships. In other words, it’s a crash course on how to prevent off-field behavior from derailing a career.

Those are the types of lessons the Browns must emphasize when handling Manziel, the 22nd overall pick who’ll battle veteran Brian Hoyer for the starting quarterback job this summer.

Manziel is capable of conducting himself the way teams believe the face of a franchise should. He avoided controversy during the months leading up to the May 8-10 draft and said all the right things. At the NFL Scouting Combine in late February, he insisted he was “absolutely” prepared to change his lifestyle as a professional.

“I believe whenever I decided to make this decision to turn professional, it was a time to really put my college years in the past,” Manziel said. “This is a job now. There’s guys’ families, coaches’ families and jobs and all kinds of things on the line. For me it’s nothing. It won’t be a hard thing to kick or anything really a hard deal to not do. I’m extremely focused on whatever organization I’ll be at and really pouring my heart out trying to be football 24/7 with that team.”

Then Manziel vowed he wouldn’t be high maintenance off the field when ESPN’s Jon Gruden pressed him on the subject during Gruden’s QB Camp.

The day after the Browns drafted Manziel, he was asked if he had toned down his larger-than-life persona away from the field.

“I know I need to put all my time right now into maintaining my life in football and trying to be as good of a quarterback as possible,” he said. “Everything else is extra and really there’s not time for it right now. I’m very committed to expanding my knowledge of the game and getting better as a quarterback. That’s my focus right now.”

The hypocrisy is alarming.

Browns coach Mike Pettine has repeatedly insisted he isn’t worried about Manziel’s partying, though he hasn’t addressed the media since the “money phone” video surfaced last week. In the aftermath of that incident, Vic Carucci, the Browns’ senior editor and co-host of the radio show broadcast from the team’s headquarters, said on the air that the organization either had talked to Manziel about his antics or would have a conversation of that nature with him.

If Pettine is the strong, direct leader I’ve labeled him, he must not only talk with Manziel, but also hold him accountable. If he wants his players to conduct themselves like professionals at all times, he should let it be known publicly. He also must powwow with player engagement director Jamil Northcutt and player engagement assistant Russell Maryland to ensure the organization is staying on top of the situation.

Pettine doesn’t want to micromanage players, though some need more managing than others. On June 10, he said the Browns would step in and reprimand Manziel if his behavior “becomes irresponsible or becomes part of something that involves breaking the law or something that we feel is a potential problem.”

When Pro Bowl cornerback Joe Haden said during a radio interview with WKNR (850-AM) last week that Manziel needs to enlist a “phone valet” and “try to have fun without the whole world knowing,” it might have been a hint that a potential problem is brewing the locker room. Haden is one of the friendliest players on the roster. If he’s willing to publicly declare that Manziel should stop flaunting his shenanigans, what do you think other veterans are saying privately?

If Manziel helps the Browns win, all will be forgiven. But for a quarterback to win consistently, he needs the support and trust of his teammates. The only way to obtain those things is to earn them.

Ultimately, it’ll depend on Manziel to do that. But it’s also the duty of the Browns to push him in the right direction

http://www.ohio.com/sports/browns/nate-u...-field-1.498480

Looks like Johnny may have had a little fun with Bieber's ex too this past weekend. Live it up!

Manziel & Chantel

j/c:

I don't have much room to talk because I was a big-time drinker and still drink quite a bit.

However, I wonder [no YTown, that doesn't mean I say it's a fact] that his drinking might be a problem.

Yes, many young guys drink and party. They love meeting girls. They love the scene. Lord knows I did. And being a football player helped w/all of that. But man, there comes a point in time when partying too much effects your on-field performance. You don't study as much. You work off a hangover in practice. Your commitment is not quite what it should be.

I am NOT saying that is the case, but I do have to admit that his drinking and partying could be a concern. People talk about Haden like he is some kind of role model for saying that everyone parties and that you need to have a phone valet, but I say that is BS.

The Browns are perennial losers and part of the reason they lose is that we have too many guys w/Haden's attitude. We lose games late. We lose when things get tough. We lack mental toughness and intestinal fortitude. Not EVERYONE parties all the time. There are plenty of guys that are dedicated to their craft. People on here rag on Ray Lewis all the time, but here is what he did...............he worked so hard and was so productive that other players didn't dare cross him. If Ray was working, they were working. Jerry Rice is another guy whose work ethic and commitment to excellence affected players in a positive way.

Now, go ahead and call me an old, fuddy-duddy and say I don't know how to have fun. Dismiss what I am saying because you are in denial of some fairly hard evidence. That will change the reality of the situation, guys...............really, it will.

I dont really have an issue with it at all to be honest. Lets face it Most of these kids that were drafted are doing the same thing. he wasnt out partying hard during the season. he wasnt partying hard leading up to the draft. The only time during mini's and ota's was when he went to vegas to watch the fights on memorial day weekend when most americans were doing the same and he got permission from the coaches to do so.

Right now he is on vacation, letting off some steam. Camp starst and he is out partying or doing it during the season, then its an issue. Right now I say the kid has worked hard and just relaxing a little.

Work hard play hard.

He should pull a Clinton and say "I didn't swallow".

Seriously, all we know for certain is that he took a swig from a champagne bottle. For that matter, I've seen sparkling grape juice in bottles that look like that one.

Okay..............I could be wrong. No problem.

I just say that as a QB.............I would be approaching it differently.

Let me ask you this.............you think Russell Wilson, Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, or Aaron Rodgers approached their rookie campaign in the same manner as Johnny has?

I was not High on Johnny when we drafted him, however I was not down on him either. I have a wait and see attitude. Has Johnny done anything wrong since we drafted him IMO...... NO...... has he done some things that were not very wise since we drafted him.... once again IMO yes. Hell I was 10 times worse than this kid when I was his age. But then again I didn't have the press following me around 24/7 like he does, and i was far from being a rich kid in the spot light. I believe he has to grow up quicker than most of us had to, but I also believe he has a shot to make all Browns fans fall in love with him and be a very good NFL player. Only time will tell how this all plays out and until then I will try my best to refrain from bashing him or praising him to much.

He doesnt fit into that group but he does fit in with Farve, broadway Joe and Johny U.

I get your point, but Johnny U? The guy was my favorite player ever. I just don't want the younger dudes to get the wrong impression of him. He was not a party guy, Mourg. Not calling you out at all, but he just wasn't.

Johnny U was famous for staying after practice and doing EXTRA work w/his receivers, most notably---Raymond Berry. They made the out pattern a science. They were the first ones who threw the ball before the WR cut. It was a thing of beauty and a lot of it was due to extra work. It wasn't about partying. It was about working harder than others. I like Manziel, but I am a bit concerned. I have seen a lot of partying articles, but haven't seen even ONE of him staying late and doing more work. Have you?

Back to Unitas.If you wanna mention Stabler instead............I'm w/you.

I'll wait and see if this continues to be an issue. I wish he was locked in a room studying, but truth is the kid is immature and probably isn't a Tom Brady type who is willing to do that at 21 ( I wasn't either). Having said that, I'm glad we have Hoyer, because I do believe that Manziel needs to sit and learn what it takes to be a QB in the league.....not just on the field but off as well.

In the end he might be Favre or Broadway Joe who can handle it, but I would feel a lot better if he was stuck in a room like Brady or Brees.