A text message Johnny Manziel sent to the Cleveland Browns on draft day reportedly convinced team owner Jimmy Haslam to trade up for the 2012 Heisman winner. Browns quarterback coach Dowell Loggains said Manziel texted him "hurry up and draft me," which was enough to make Cleveland pull the trigger on the signal caller.
Loggains explained during an interview on ESPN radio's "SportsTalk with Bo Mattingly" that Manziel's text message to him likely led to the Browns deciding to trade up. Loggains said Manziel sent him a text that read: "I wish you guys would come get me. Hurry up and draft me because I want to wreck this league together."
"When I got that text, I forwarded it to the owner (Jimmy Haslam) and to the head coach (Mike Pettine). I'm like, 'This guy wants to be here. He wants to be part of it.'" Loggains added, via ESPN. "As soon as that happened, Mr. Haslam said, 'Pull the trigger. We're trading up to go get this guy.'"
Cleveland ended up trading their second and third round picks for the Philadelphia Eagles' No. 22 pick, which the Browns used to draft Manziel.
Loggains also said Manziel was the only quarterback the Browns considered drafting, and the team flirted with the idea of trading up for the Tennessee Titans or the Dallas Cowboys' first round pick.
"Mr. Haslam and Coach Pettine had called me down to the draft room a couple of times throughout the night, and we had almost made trades with Tennessee and Dallas and backed out," he said. "... We were sitting there, and Coach Pettine keeps texting me, and we're going back and forth and we're going, 'Hey does Dallas take him here? No they won't. Does St. Louis take him at 13?' We knew we had to get in front of the Chiefs (at No. 23) because we knew they would draft him."
