The Browns denied a report from NFL Network claiming they lied about Johnny Manziel suffering a concussion late last season to cover up the troubled quarterback allegedly showing up to a practice drunk.
The team’s stance is as follows:
Manziel suffered a concussion Dec. 27 in a 17-13 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs but wasn’t diagnosed with the injury until Dec. 30 after arriving at Browns headquarters that morning and complaining of symptoms. Instead of practicing that day, he was sent to the doctor. On Dec. 31, former Browns coach Mike Pettine ruled out Manziel for the Jan. 3 season finale against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Manziel failed to report to team headquarters the morning of the finale for scheduled concussion treatment (he reportedly partied in Las Vegas the previous night) and was fined as a result. He wasn’t cleared from the concussion until Jan. 12.
“Johnny Manziel came to our facility on the morning of December 30th and complained of concussion symptoms,” a Browns spokesman said Tuesday in a statement. “He was tested by an independent neurologist and entered the league’s concussion protocol. He remained in the protocol until January 12th after being cleared by the independent neurologist.”
Reporter Michael Silver claimed the concussion was a cover-up Friday on NFL Network’s Super Bowl Live from San Francisco, but the video clip didn’t circulate online until Tuesday.
“I was with a Browns player yesterday,” said Silver, a good friend of new Browns coach Hue Jackson. “Johnny Manziel, going into what would have been a start late in the season, showed up drunk at practice on a Wednesday. The Browns lied and said he was in the concussion protocol. Let me repeat that: The Browns lied to try to protect and, I would argue, enable this irresponsible and very troubled young man.”
However, Silver backtracked on his claim that the Browns lied in a series of tweets Tuesday.
“I’ve been told by multiple sources that Manziel showed up late to the tea[m] facility for a meeting & noticeably drunk on Wednesday, Dec. 30,” Silver wrote. “He was later placed in the concussion protocol & sent home. I am not a doctor & thus cannot presume to question the diagnosis of an independent neurologist or any medical professional. I do not have direct knowledge of what Manziel may have told the doctor or doctors who evaluated him, or what might have been suggested. If the Browns say they did not lie about Manziel’s diagnosis, I will take them at their word, and I regret using that term (‘lied’). I stand by my original report that Manziel showed up drunk at practice & that witnesses believed this was the cause of his ‘behavior.’ This will be my last comment on the subject, pending further reporting.”
If any team were to lie about whether a player suffered a concussion, it would almost certainly face harsh discipline from the league. There is no greater player safety issue in today’s NFL than the handling of concussions.
Asked if the NFL is investigating the claim its in-house media company made about the Browns, league spokesman Greg Aiello wrote in an email response, “I would refer you back to the team. We do not have a comment.” The NFL Players Association also said it didn’t have a comment.
Silver’s report isn’t the first of its nature.
ESPNCleveland.com’s Tony Grossi reported Manziel showed up to Browns headquarters “disheveled and inebriated” the week leading up to the season finale. After the last game, Grossi asked Pettine if Manziel arrived to a meeting in that state on a Tuesday. “No. No. No, that is not the case,” Pettine replied. Later Jan. 3, the Browns announced they fired Pettine and General Manager Ray Farmer following a 3-13 season.
Of course, there’s a possibility Manziel could have arrived in that condition on another day.
There’s also a possibility Manziel suffered a concussion and showed up to team headquarters inebriated instead of one or the other.
An unnamed Browns source who had contact with Manziel on Dec. 30 told ESPN’s Adam Schefter: “Manziel looked terrible. He wasn’t drunk, but he was heavily hung over on something.”
Manziel complained about light sensitivity, vomiting and a headache, according to ESPN.
“This wasn’t some massive cover-up,” the source told Schefter. “What are you going to do? You have to put him in the protocol.
“... He was not drunk that day, but he was [recovering] from being on something. I don’t know what he was doing the night before, but something was wrong with him.”
Manziel’s publicist, Denise Michaels, did not return an email seeking comment about the situation. He no longer has an agent after Erik Burkhardt severed ties last week.
Manziel, 23, is the target of a criminal investigation by Dallas police after ex-girlfriend Colleen Crowley accused him of beating her and threatening to kill them both on Jan. 30. The Browns plan to cut Manziel on March 9, when a new league year will give them the necessary salary-cap space for the move.
The Browns said they didn’t know which hit gave Manziel a concussion. He rushed 11 times for 108 yards, a franchise record for a quarterback, and took several blows to the helmet.
He absorbed a helmet-to-helmet shot from linebacker Josh Mauga at the end of a 23-yard run on the second-to-last play of the second quarter. Then the crown of his helmet hit the ground as he fell face first along the Browns’ sideline while defensive lineman Allen Bailey tackled him from behind on a 10-yard run during the first play of the fourth quarter.
“I know our guys looked at him and felt that he was OK,” Pettine said Dec. 30. “I remember that one because it was literally right in front of me.”
Nate Ulrich can be reached at nulrich@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Browns blog at www.ohio.com/browns. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/NateUlrichABJ and on Facebook www.facebook.com/abj.sports.