#Johnny Manziel admits his football career is ‘in the past’

Johnny Football may need to change his nickname to Johnny Golf.

The 27-year-old Johnny Manziel isn’t officially retired from football, but after short stints in the NFL, CFL and AAF, he’s coming to terms with the possibility that he may never play football again.

Manziel, who last played for the Memphis Express in March of 2019 before the AAF folded, currently lives in Scottsdale, Ariz. and has been playing a lot of golf, roughly six times a week, he said. And when asked where he believes his football career is right now, the 6-foot quarterback gave a pretty candid answer.

“In the past, probably, is the way I’d characterize it,” Manziel told the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. “I’ve finally got to a point where I’m trying to achieve happiness in life, not happiness on the football field.

“I know a lot of people probably want me to come back and play and give it another chance, but I don’t know, as far as being a person and figuring out life as a young adult — trying to make it and figure it out — if I’ve ever been in a better place than I’m in right now. I can honestly say I’m happy and I’m doing the right things to try and put a smile on my face every day, and that means more to me than going out and grinding on a football field.”

After making a name for himself in college football at Texas A&M, winning the Heisman Trophy in 2012 and getting drafted 22nd overall in two years later, Manziel played just 14 NFL games.

He made just eight NFL starts, going 2-6 with seven touchdowns and seven interceptions.

“During that time when I got drafted, I didn’t put in the time that I needed to be a great player and I don’t think my heart was in it,” Manziel said. “And I think when I went back to Canada, it was the same way. I truly believed and truly thought it was what I wanted to do, and my heart wasn’t in it, and it worked out the way it did.”

Manziel admitted that he struggled with dedicating himself to watching film, lifting weights and sitting in meetings during his stint in the NFL. He loved playing, but without going the extra mile behind closed doors, Manziel fell behind.

“I had a great time,” he said. “Anytime I ever stepped between the lines, I had an amazing time. I gave it everything I had.

“I think it’s just, the work you put in when you have the free hours and when you do things on your own, that matches up accordingly with what happens on the field. And when you get to thinking that you’re too good or you’re better than the game, it’ll humble you. And that’s what happened. I got humbled. Thank God I did get a chance to be humbled, because when you think you’re at the top of the world, it’s a dangerous place.”

Manziel is still proud of all he accomplished in the sport of football and is content with how his career has played out.

“People can call me whatever they want,” he said, “but at the end of the day, I’m proud of what I did. I’m proud of what I accomplished. I bettered myself. I bettered my family’s life. I got a chance to play amazing college football, and it didn’t work out in the NFL and that’s OK.”