NFL News & Rumors: Johnny Manziel Talks About Being a Distraction & Abandoning 'Money Sign'
Cleveland Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel talked to the media for the first time in the offseason and admitted his flaws during his rookie year.
Manziel, who was recently discharged after being treated for 10 weeks in an alcohol and drug rehabilitation facility, admitted that he became a "distraction" to his team and even resolved to abandoning his famous "money sign," ESPN reported.
Manziel's decision to quit the "money sign" is a symbol of a great effort on his part to tone down the way his "Johnny Football" persona had affected the Browns, especially his co-players.
The Texas-born NFL athlete shared how his "Johnny Football" persona had also "overtook" his real personality, leading him not to do this "best to hush things down, push down the hype."
"The money sign will not be back. I will not be making it out there," Manziel told the press.
"I feel bad about that today. I feel bad about that throughout the last months of my life really thinking back and seeing how much of my life outside of this field and outside of this locker room was documented. It's not fair for Joe Haden to be having to answer questions about me every day. It's not fair for Joe Thomas and all these guys to just continue to have questions asked about me. I don't think that's fair at all and I don't want that on them," the 22-year-old football player declared.
He accepted that "everything that happened last year" is his fault but is now trying change. The quarterback said he just wanted to be "another player on this team" who is "trying to get better and just trying to be successful."
"My focus is on football. It's what I'm here to do. It's what I love to do," he added.
Right after he was discharged, Manziel also released a statement to his fans, informed Cleveland.com.
"I take full responsibility for my actions and it's my intention to work very hard to regain everyone's trust and respect... I understand that will take time and will only happen through what I do and not what I say," Manziel wrote in April.
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