May 26, 2015; Berea, OH, USA; Cleveland Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel (2) during organized team activities at the Cleveland Browns training facility. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports
With the Cleveland Browns having a few days off until Organized Team Activities resume on Monday, the players have the weekend to themselves.
Which, apparently, means we are contractually obligated to have some kind of national Johnny Manziel story.
Manziel is in Irving, Texas, this weekend at the Byron Nelson Golf Classic. The second-year quarterback was originally going to participate in the tournament’s pro-am events, but withdrew due to his obligations to his day job. But with a couple of days off, he still had time to take in some of the action at the tournament.
Which led to this vague Tweet this morning from ESPN’s Colin Cowherd (h/t to former editor Jared Mueller):
Expect a Johnny Manziel story from Byron Nelson tourney over next day or two.
— Colin Cowherd (@ColinCowherd) May 31, 2015
Uh-oh! A “story” about Manziel! What could that mean?
Well, it turns out that, like just about everything surrounding Manziel, it may be much ado about nothing.
According to Mary Kay Cabot at Northeast Ohio Media Group, the “story” that Cowherd alluded to involved a fan harassing Manziel on Saturday near the pool at the Four Seasons. Manziel reportedly responded by throwing a water bottle at the 18-year-old male, which took the situation to another level. (No word on whether or not the water bottle fell short of its intended target.)
One of Manziel’s friends stepped in, hotel security was involved, and the matter was reportedly handled in an appropriate matter, Manziel’s agent, Erik Burkhardt, told Northeast Ohio Media Group.
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According to TMZ (which is the site you always want to see the players on the local team show up in), the fan was bothering Manziel for an autograph and started “talking trash” about Manziel when one was not forthcoming, resulting in Manziel throwing the water bottle.
From the sound of things, Manziel was the victim here, much like the incident last fall at his former residence in downtown Cleveland. While you can make the argument that Manziel could have just signed an autograph for the fan, there is no way of knowing how obnoxious the unidentified male was or how many times Manziel asked to be left alone.
The incident is also another example of how difficult it is for Manziel to do anything without it seeming to end up in the news. He shouldn’t be throwing water bottles at people, obviously, (and we have to wonder about his continued anger-management skills), but when he is away from the Browns and NFL-sponsored activities, he should be free to have his privacy.
Unfortunately, when it comes to Manziel, not everyone seems to see it that way.
What do you think about the latest incident with Johnny Manziel?