SAN ANTONIO – Most believed, team members and media alike, they would know by now whether or not Johnny Manziel would be allowed to play in the Alliance of American Football after being kicked out of the Canadian Football League.
But when Commanders’ general manager Daryl Johnston was hit with the first question Thursday following workouts at Central Catholic High School, this was his response.
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"Nothing new yet, which is surprising, “ admitted Johnston. “We talked last week and I really felt we would have something by the end of the week, last week or early this week. I’m actually surprised there’s not any initial steps which direction to move forward.”
When pressed as to why Johnston did not want to speculate.
“They are doing their due diligence," Johnston said. "They’ve done that consistently throughout the process since we started this journey, so I would just think continuing to gather information and to make sure the decision they make is the right one."
After winning the Heisman Trophy in his freshman year at Texas A&M, Manziel decided to forgo his junior and senior seasons and make himself available for the NFL draft.
He convinced the Cleveland Browns to take a chance on him, saying he would "wreck this league."
Convinced, the Browns made him a first-round draft pick in 2014, but he would never develop into the future of the franchise due to his hard-partying ways and a case against him, that would eventually be dismissed for domestic violence, with his then girlfriend in Dallas, which he would later blame on bipolar disorder.
After wearing out his welcome in the NFL, Manziel was given a second chance in the Canadian Football League but had to adhere to strict parameters for his return, which included weekly visits to a therapist; and monthly doctor visits that included test for lithium he said helped him control his bipolar disorder.
Not revealing publicly why he had now worn out his welcome north of the border, CFL officials banned Manziel from the entire league last month.
Now we wait to see if the third time is the charm. But is adding the volatile player at the halfway mark of the season a good idea, especially when Logan Woodside is coming off his best game as a pro with his 21 of 27 performance for 290 yards and two touchdowns in the 29-25 victory over Arizona to put the Commanders at the top of the Western Conference.
“We’ve spent a long time developing the chemistry, the culture of this organization," cautioned Johnston. "What disruption does that cause your team? You’re going to have distractions. You’re going to have adversity during the course of the season. The one thing you don’t want to have is self-inflicted situations like that."