Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel.

Agencies/Ohio

Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel held a funeral Wednesday for Johnny Football.
“I’m trying to really close a chapter on my life and move forward and really continue to build on the things that I’ve done throughout this offseason,” Manziel said in his first interview since Dec. 29 after the Browns wrapped up their second practice of mandatory minicamp.
Manziel admitted he became overwhelmed by the Johnny Football persona he helped create when he took college football by storm and won the Heisman Trophy at Texas A&M in 2012.
The hype, celebrity and partying became too much to handle. It played a part in his nightmarish rookie season with the Browns after they drafted him 22nd overall last year, and it ultimately contributed to him spending more than 10 weeks this offseason in an inpatient rehabilitation facility specializing in alcohol and drug addiction treatment.
“I think it just overtook who I was just as person, too,” Manziel said. “I think, at times, Johnny Football probably took over me a little bit, too, and I bought into that. I think I didn’t do my best to hush things down, push down the hype. I think at times I welcomed it with immaturity and just accepted that a little bit, and that’s my fault.
“At the end of the day, everything that happened last year is not on anybody else but myself. I guess I wasn’t prepared to handle the type of spotlight that I got and all the hype that came with it. So moving forward, I’m trying to do my part to push that down, suffocate that a little bit and just try to live my life and come out here, and I’m happy being back out here on the football field, I’m happy being back out here with these guys and I’m excited to come to work every day.”
In an effort to bury Johnny Football, Manziel vowed to no longer flash his popular “money sign” hand gesture. In the past, he would routinely rub his fingers against his thumbs after making plays on the gridiron or while posing for photographs. He even did it on stage at Radio City Music Hall when he was drafted.
“The money sign will not be back,” Manziel said. “I will not be making it.”
Manziel, 22, politely told reporters he wouldn’t discuss details of his private life, but it’s clear the issues he faced off the field last year interfered with his job. He led the offense to just three points in six quarters as a starter and finished 0-2 after taking veteran Brian Hoyer’s spot in the lineup in December.
He described his rookie season as a time he is not “proud of, not one that I want to look back on very much.” His poor performances and behavior away from the field cast a large shadow of doubt on whether he’ll ever live up to the expectations the Browns placed upon him when they traded up four spots to pick him.
“Obviously, last year was, in my mind, for me personally, a disaster,” Manziel said. “I didn’t come out and perform.
“I think it’s even my fault _ the way that I’ve built myself up. I set myself up for a little bit of failure in that regard if I didn’t come out as a rookie and really perform.”
Manziel thanked the Browns for their support throughout this offseason. He said his teammates embraced him when he rejoined the team after rehab and acknowledged his TMZ lifestyle has put many of them in difficult positions in the past.