Johnny Manziel's father: If son doesn't get help, QB 'won't live to see his 24th birthday'
Johnny Manziel's family is concerned for his well-being, but the NFL quarterback has twice declined to be admitted to area rehabilitation facilities in the last week, according to his father, Paul Manziel.
"I truly believe if they can't get him help, he won't live to see his 24th birthday," Paul Manziel told The Dallas Morning News.
On Friday, Manziel's agent Erik Burkhardt also voiced concern for Manziel and announced that he is terminating their professional relationship.
The family first tried Saturday afternoon to get Manziel, 23, to agree to go to the Enterhealth Ranch addiction facility in Van Alstyne, but he would not stay. That attempt came the day after Manziel's former girlfriend alleged in a police report that he hit her repeatedly at a Dallas hotel and while driving her home to Fort Worth on Jan. 29. Manziel has not been charged in the incident, but a Fort Worth Police helicopter searched the area for him.
Paul Manziel said that he tried to have his son admitted Tuesday to Carrollton Springs Hospital, but that Johnny was allowed to leave. Paul Manziel said that he is upset that his son was allowed to walk away after Paul told a Denton County Sherriff officer that he believed Johnny to be suicidal. Carrollton Springs is a 45-bed psychiatric and chemical dependency hospital in Carrollton, providing inpatient and outpatient treatment to adults suffering from mental illness and/or addiction, according to its website.
Johnny Manziel, who is from Tyler and Kerrville, Texas, has spent the last several weeks in Dallas. The former Texas A&M quarterback and 2012 Heisman Trophy winner has been seen out, including at Wednesday night's Mavericks game.
Colleen Crowley, Manziel's ex-girlfriend, said Manziel acted like he was on drugs but not intoxicated during the Jan. 29 incident, according to the police report.
Manziel, who is expected to be released from the Cleveland Browns in early March, spent time in a rehabilitation facility during the last NFL off-season.
He started six games for the Browns this season, his second in the league, but his time in Cleveland has been dominated by off-field incidents since he was selected in the first round of the 2014 NFL draft.
In a statement Friday, Burkhardt said: "It is with deep regret that after several emotional and very personal discussions with his family, his doctors, and my client himself, I have made the decision to terminate my professional relationship with Johnny Manziel. Though I will remain a friend and Johnny supporter and he knows I have worked tirelessly to arrange a number of professional options for him to continue to pursue, it has become painfully obvious that his future rests solely in his own hands. His family and I have gone to great lengths to outline the steps we feel he must take to get his life in order. Accountability is the foundation of any relationship, and without it, the function of my work is counterproductive."
they lost their team
