Cleveland Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel added to his list of off-the-field incidents Saturday at the AT&T Byron Nelson Championship in Irving, Texas. A spokesman for the Irving police said that an 18-year-old fan was "harassing" Manziel at a hotel pool and that after he wouldn't stop, Manziel threw a water bottle at him, according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer's Mary Kay Cabot. Hotel security and later the police intervened, but no charges were filed against either party.
Johnny Manziel allegedly throws water bottle at harassing fan
The Browns quarterback had another eventful encounter with a fan at the Dallas area golf tournament.
Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports
A friend of Manziel who witnessed the incident told ESPN that Manziel threw the water bottle -- which was three-fourths full, according to the police -- at the ground. The fan, who kept asking for a photo after Manziel declined, then allegedly hurled insults at the quarterback. Via ESPN:
As Manziel left the golf course, the fan yelled, “good luck never starting in the NFL,” the friend said. Manziel said “What?” and threw the bottle, which the friend claimed was empty, toward the ground as his friends told him to ignore the heckler.
The fan was about 20 yards away and Manziel threw the bottle in the fan’s direction but not close to his body and more like a football spike, said the friend, who remembered the fan yelling, “Good throw, Johnny.”
According to a friend of Manziel, the quarterback politely declined the 18-year-old’s request for an autograph repeatedly. At one point the fan allegedly grabbed Manziel from behind, and Manziel responded, “‘Can you please not do that? Just please leave me alone.’”
Manziel, an avid golfer and Texas native, was released from a rehab facility in April after a two-month voluntary stay. He was with the Browns for their first day of OTAs last week, taking second-team reps behind Josh McCown, a veteran free agent quarterback the team acquired during the offseason.
Despite coming in as a first-round draft pick last season, Manziel's rookie year was a rocky one. He failed to beat out Brian Hoyer for the quarterback job until Hoyer's on-field struggles thrusted the 2012 Heisman Trophy winner into a starting role in Week 15. Manziel threw for just 80 yards and two interceptions in the Browns' 30-0 loss to their in-state rivals, the Cincinnati Bengals. He started the following week before leaving with a hamstring injury, the last time he saw the field during his first season.
In total, Manziel appeared in five games and completed 18 of 35 passes for 175 yards and two interceptions. Although he did not throw a touchdown during his debut season, he scored on a rushing touchdown in relief of Hoyer in Week 13 against the Buffalo Bills.
Even as he failed to make much of an impact on the field, Manziel's actions off the field gained the most attention last year. He was frequently seen partying and his entourage was involved in a brawl in downtown Cleveland, another incident that occurred when a fan accosted Manziel. After rumors that a late-night party caused the quarterback and wide receiver Josh Gordon to miss a team walkthrough during the last week of the season, Manziel said he needed to "stop acting like a jackass."
A month later, he checked into a drug and alcohol treatment center. The police said they did not detect alcohol on Manziel Saturday.
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