Johnny Football is back. Sort of.
Former Cleveland Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel is attempting an NFL comeback, and multiple teams reportedly are open to giving him a second chance.
Ian Rapoport and Mike Garafolo of NFL Media reported Wednesday that Manziel has re-hired his previous agent, Erik Burkhardt, and “is drawing real interest from teams” at the NFL Scouting Combine.
Comeback is real: Johnny Manziel has re-hired agent @ErikBurkhardt after Burkhardt had him make serious commitments, per @MikeGarafolo & me
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 1, 2017
Johnny Manziel, serious enough to get Burkhardt to take him back, is drawing real interest from teams at the Combine, per @MikeGarafolo & me
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 1, 2017
Manziel won the Heisman Trophy as a redshirt college freshman in 2012, but his career took a sharp nosedive after the Browns drafted him 22nd overall in 2014. He played in 15 games over two seasons in Cleveland, starting eight and completing 57 percent of his passes with seven touchdowns and seven interceptions.
The Browns released Manziel in March 2016, and he has been a free agent ever since. He did not play at all this season but remained in the news, both for his lengthy domestic violence case and for his high-profile partying.
Manziel also has yet to serve the four-game suspension he earned last summer for violating the NFL’s substance-abuse policy. If he lands a job with a new team, he would not be eligible to play until Week 5 of this season.
Thumbnail photo via Denny Medley/USA TODAY Sports Images