Johnny Manziel wasn't exactly known for discretion and good behavior in college. There were a few incidents and comments I'm sure he'd love to have back. A few photos he probably wishes he ducked out of. But all in all, Manziel has been the model player since being drafted by the Cleveland Browns. He's accepted his bench role without so much as an inflammatory tweet, to the disappointment of sports writers everywhere.
But the peace and quiet around Johnny Football could be ending. ClevelandScene.com is reporting that a fan says members of Manziel's entourage assaulted a fan and Manziel himself sucker punched the fan's brother.
Thirty-three-year-old Chris Gonos allegedly approached Manziel at an upscale apartment complex in Cleveland Friday night and requested a hug. According to Gonos, he was then punched in the face by an associate of Manziel's and further roughed up. The associate reportedly claimed that the fan was trying to assault Manziel.
According to ClevelandScene.com, Gonos explained his version of events:
"Yeah, it actually all started through me. We had a room - it was my brother's birthday - so we were staying at the Metropolitan at the 9. We partied there, and at the end of the night I was going back up to my room, and I noticed the guy. I was like, 'Man, that's Johnny Manziel.' They were trying to keep it quiet, keep it low, and I was like 'Johnny Football!' I was just excited. But anyways, I went to give him like a handshake, or dap or whatever you want to call it, one of his buddies like tackled me. It was going down, a whole bunch of people started fighting. It ended pretty quick.
"I got a bruised hip and a bruised elbow, and somebody hit me in the back of the head, too. My brother saw what was going on and he ran, he tackled Johhny Manziel - I guess he got the sack and the fumble. He tackled him, yeah, I'm talking about he speared him all the way to the back wall. I was cornered; I was by myself and Johnny Manziel and like three or four of his buddies were all coming at me. (My brother) just came to help me out, and I guess Johnny sucker punched him while the security guard was holding him. It should be all on video.
"No [one was arrested], like 20 officers came and I was sitting in the lobby because I did not do anything wrong but be a fan. All these cops run into the lobby, and they're like, 'Who was fighting, who was fighting?' and I just raised my hand, and was like, listen, watch the camera, and stuff like that. I may be guilty of being a fan, but that's about it. I even showed them the guy that sucker punched me and the cops walked right up to him, talking to him for a while, and they let us all go. They just told me I had to leave the hotel, and me and my ride, we left. Manziel never punched me, but he got a sucker punch on my brother.
"I know somebody else in the group smashed Johnny right in the face. Smashed him, smashed him. I watched the whole game to see if we could spot him on the sidelines."
Browns general manager Ray Farmer made the following statement:
"We are aware of the incident and are in the process of gathering additional information in order to gain a complete understanding of what occurred. Nonetheless, the time of the incident is concerning to us. We continually stress to all of our players the importance of sound decision making in an effort to avoid putting themselves in these types of situations. We have addressed this appropriately with the player and will have no further comment at this time."
Whatever the case may be, it's clear that Manziel will never fully be drama free.
