On Saturday, ESPN revealed an eye-opening segment coming on Sunday NFL Countdown in Week 4. It will feature former Cleveland Browns quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel writing a letter to Baker Mayfield ahead of his first NFL start.
NFL on ESPN originally posted the preview of the segment, which featured Manziel offering a few words for the new Browns signal caller, but has since pulled it down.
During the preview, though, Manziel states “if there’s one thing you already know – one thing everybody already knows, you and I are not the same person.” As it shows him holding a pen and paper while jotting down his thoughts.
What Will Johnny Manziel’s Letter Say?
Manziel, who currently plays in the Canadian Football League, has made it known that he’s focused on turning his life around and locking in on football. When the comparisons of Manziel and Mayfield began, Manziel issued some advice to the rookie quarterback, as Cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot revealed.
“Baker’s got the fire, Baker’s got the spark, and you know, I think he’ll do all right,” said Manziel. “But don’t let the pressure of everything else that goes on get to you. That would be my one advice: just go out and make football the main thing and go out and play like he’s done for the last five years.”
Manziel also never held back about the fact that he regrets many of the decisions he made during his NFL career. As Cabot quoted, the current quarterback of the Montreal Alouettes made it known he should have had “no trips” and “no luxury of anything.”
“There’s no trips, there’s no luxury of anything,” he said. “This game’s hard and the people who are good at this game have put in countless, countless hours and that translates. … The guys that go out and play at a high level, it’s because they’ve gone out and done what they’ve needed to do in the week before in the time that other people aren’t working like that.”
The letter from Manziel is an interesting concept, but there haven’t been rumors or rumblings that Mayfield has had the same off-field issues as Manziel. And for those who watched HBO’s Hard Knocks, it seems Mayfield was fully locked in on improving and learning the playbook.
But there’s still plenty the former Texas A&M quarterback can pass along, especially considering he nearly lost his opportunity to play football at the professional level in any capacity. Manziel was largely focused on his life away from the field, which has changed quite a bit as of late it seems. During his three games in the CFL, Manziel has yet to throw a touchdown pass but has improved after his four-interception debut.
Last we heard, the CFL quarterback had gotten married and was sober while pushing for an NFL comeback, which was earlier this year during the offseason. So realistically, maybe Manziel just wants to tell Mayfield to keep his head on straight and stay focused on his promising career.
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Johnny Manziel Letter to Browns QB Baker Mayfield: What Will it Say?