The Browns don’t care what Johnny Manziel does off the field. Former Browns quarterback Brady Quinn does.
In an interview with SiriusXM NFL Radio, Quinn criticized Manziel for his antics away from football.
“I think my biggest issue with it is when you are drafted in the first round you are the face of the franchise,” Quinn said regarding Manziel’s work-hard-play-harder lifestyle, which has consisted of champagne spraying, riding an inflatable swan with a champagne bottle in hand, and toting the so-called money phone. “I understand he’s trying to have a good time and live his life off the field, but there’s a little kid watching that and now he’s looking up to him as a role model. And for me personally, I have a little bit of an issue with it. I don’t think that’s the way you want to conduct yourself.”
While the team claims to tolerate the Johnny Football shtick, Quinn wonders whether the team’s owner truly endorses it -- or merely tolerates it.
“Of you were asking Jimmy Haslam, is that really what you want the face of your franchise doing, and having out there? I just don’t think it’s right. I don’t think it’s respectful to the other veteran players, too, who right now are probably taking care of their bodies, trying to prepare to go into a winning season right now instead of doing things like that off the field.”
Quinn thinks Manziel should try to emulate the quarterback of the defending Super Bowl champs.
“I always revert back to Russell Wilson only because he’s so young, he’s been so successful, but you see all the time his good works, when he’s out there on camera, or out there on Twitter, whatever it is, he’s at a hospital with sick kids giving them gifts, trying to brighten up their day,” Quinn said. “That’s the kind of role model I’d want for my franchise. And I don’t understand why [Manziel] can’t interject more of that into his life. He’s got such a following. So then try to do it in a positive way, to help kids who are sick or people who are homeless, whatever it is, but just try to do it in a more positive manner.”
Browns fans surely won’t have much regard for Quinn’s comments, and no one in Cleveland will have a problem with Manziel’s lifestyle as long as the team finally finds success. But at a time when the NFL has a lingering issue with binge drinking and drunk driving, Quinn has a point -- even if neither Manziel nor anyone who roots for him or the Browns will want to hear it.