Quotable: Browns tell Johnny Manziel ‘this is not Hollywood’
The Cleveland Browns have made it clear where Johnny Manziel stands as a rookie.
Joe Maiorana-USA TODAY Sports
“This is not Hollywood.”
-Cleveland Browns to Johnny Manziel
The Cleveland Browns have made it abundantly clear to quarterback Johnny Manziel where he stands in the organization: he’s a backup. Owner Jimmy Haslam said that the team told Manziel that he is going to Cleveland as the backup to Brian Hoyer, and that he’ll have to compete for the job. But that’s not all they said, as Manziel was also told that “this is not Hollywood.”
Make Up Your Mind, NFL
It’s an interesting thing to say. Manziel is known as “Johnny Football,” and has been pictured with multiple celebrities in the past. He’s a guy who has partied a lot, or so it would seem, and it sounds like the Browns are taking all of that to heart. Of course, Manziel will end up taking sponsorship deals and doing commercials because the NFL is ... essentially a TV show that makes the Browns billions of dollars. But ignoring that little bit of irony, the message here is that the Browns want Manziel to be humble and they want him to stay out of trouble.
The Miami Dolphins fined safety Don Jones an undisclosed amount and suspended him from all team activities due to comments the player made on Twitter. After ESPN showed St. Louis Rams defensive lineman Michael Sam kiss his boyfriend in celebration of his selection at the bottom of the seventh round, Jones took to Twitter and said "omg." When asked by a follower if he was talking about the Sam kiss, Jones said "horrible."
Miami will hold him to the suspension until he has completed "education training for his recent comments." Dolphins head coach Joe Philbin said that the team is "disappointed to read Don'ts tweets during the NFL Draft." He said that they were "inappropriate and unacceptable." Jones also released a statement in which he apologized, which you can find below:
“I want to apologize to Michael Sam for the inappropriate comments that I made last night on social media. I take full responsibility for them and I regret that these tweets took away from his draft moment. I remember last year when I was drafted in the seventh round and all of the emotions and happiness I felt when I received the call that gave me an opportunity to play for an NFL team and I wish him all the best in his NFL career. I sincerely apologize to Mr. Ross, my teammates, coaches, staff and fans for these tweets. I am committed to represent the values of the Miami Dolphins organization and appreciate the opportunity I have been given to do so going forward.”
“A lot of people don’t realize I wasn’t healthy at Alabama.”
-AJ McCarron, Cincinnati Bengals
Cincinnati Bengals quarterback AJ McCarron claims that he wasn’t healthy while playing at Alabama. McCarron said that he “sacrificed a lot to play for coach Saban and that university.” He went on to say that he played through “a lot of injuries and we never leaked it because that’s just the way it is.” McCarron didn’t miss any playing time with the Crimson Tide, winning two national championships with the school.
Draft Statistics
Despite that, his draft stock fell pretty significantly, and he wasn't taken until later in the draft. Whatever the case, he's in Cincinnati, where he'll back up Andy Dalton and potentially give the team some insurance if it can't get Dalton signed to a contract extension at a reasonable rate. McCarron took some flak for his comments on Twitter (he takes flak for most things he says, really), and had to defend himself with a series of tweets.
“I want to be clear that I’ve never taken any performance-enhancing products.”
-Stedman Bailey, St. Louis Rams
St. Louis Rams wide receiver Stedman Bailey has been suspended for four regular season games in 2014 for violating the league’s policy on performance-enhancing substances. It’s unclear what that substance actually entails, as Bailey took to Twitter to acknowledge that that he did violate league policy, but that he has never taken any performance-enhancing products.
NFL Draft grades
“I want to be clear that I’ve never taken any performance-enhancing products,” Bailey said. “I acknowledge that a violation of league policy occurred and that I am responsible for that violation.” He went on to apologize to the Rams organization and his teammates for his “mistake.” Bailey was expected to take an increased role with the Rams this season, but this is definitely a setback. However, he will be allowed to take part in all offseason activities and participate in the preseason.
“Teddy will play when we feel like he’s ready, if he’s the best guy, which we hope that he will be.”
-Mike Zimmer, Minnesota Vikings Head Coach
The Minnesota Vikings traded up to draft quarterback Teddy Bridgewater with the No. 32 pick of the NFL Draft. Bridgewater joins a team that desperately needs a quarterback, but he’s not going to start unless the team feels he’s ready. Head coach Mike Zimmer said that Bridgewater “will play when we feel like he’s ready,” and only if he’s “the best guy.” Zimmer said that the Vikings “always want to have competition.”
Of course, it still seems incredibly likely that Bridgewater is the starter in Week 1. Christian Ponder and Matt Cassel would seem to only have one advantage: they already know Norv Turner's offense. If Bridgewater doesn't pick it up quickly, one of those two could end up starting, but smart money at this point seems to be on him getting the call early.
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