Johnny Manziel Speaks To Press, Plans To Get Rid Of ‘Money Sign’

Johnny Manziel has spoken to the press for the first time since his rehab stint. And in his comments, he called his rookie season an unmitigated “disaster” and, as a result, he changed his approach to this year altogether.

Johnny Manziel Speaks To Press

In Manziel’s first talk with the press, he focused on his future and apologized about the past. But he did not want to fully talk about his stint in rehab as he would rather speak about the 2015 Cleveland Browns.

“Moving forward, I’m focusing on football,” Manziel stated. “This is what I’m here to do, this is what I love to do, and that’s what I’m here to talk about today, guys… So for me today, I’m sitting here eager to talk about the 2015 Cleveland Browns, what we have this year and what we have in this locker room moving forward. Really, the goal is what we want to do this season. That’s really my focus.”

As for his reputation last year, he briefly talked about being a distraction and how even his trademark ‘money sign’ will not make an appearance during this season. “I feel bad about [the distraction] throughout the last months… 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. That’s part of the reason why I’m up here today: to finally get me out here and get me answering these questions because I don’t think it’s fair for them”

Also, throughout the conversation, he would continuously mention how sorry he was that the moniker Johnny Football became bigger than the team. “I think it just overtook who I was as a person too. I think at times Johnny Football probably took over me a little bit and I bought into that… 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.”

However, he believes that disgruntled fans should give him another shot before completely losing faith. Towards the end of the interview, Manziel stated that “actions speak louder than words,” and if he is going to earn back the trust of Dawg Pound Nation, he has a lot of making up to do. Especially, when one considers his atrocious numbers in 2015: 51.8 completion percentage, 175 yards, zero touchdowns and two interceptions.

It seems, at least for the moment, he has been putting the work in and getting help from veteran journeyman Josh McCown.