At the moment, he doesn't have a starting job. And it may be that way for a while.
Cleveland owner Jimmy Haslam said Monday the Browns have told Johnny Football to start acting like a backup quarterback.
Speaking at a Pro Football Hall of Fame luncheon, Haslam said the Browns were excited to select Manziel, Texas A&M's dynamic, playmaking quarterback, in the first round of the draft.
However, although Manziel has brought a buzz to Cleveland and made the Browns fashionable, Haslam quickly ended any speculation that the highly touted QB will soar past Brian Hoyer on the depth chart.
"We were very frank with him that 'You're the backup quarterback. This is a hardworking, blue-collar town. This isn't Hollywood,'" Haslam said. "'We want you to come in here, work hard and work as hard as anybody on the team.' He's not the starter. Brian Hoyer is our starting quarterback. Johnny is the backup."
Haslam called Manziel "ultra-competitive" and feels the 21-year-old will come to training camp with the right attitude. He knows Manziel wants to prove he can succeed in the NFL.
"I think you'll find a guy that's really hardworking, a serious guy that doesn't want to be a three-year-in-the-league flash and out who makes a lot of money on endorsements," Haslam said speaking to a crowd of 500, most of them hardcore Browns fans. "He's a football player."
During his 35 minutes at the podium, Haslam recapped the club's draft weekend, highlighted by the club taking Manziel with the No. 22 overall pick.
Haslam denied a report that the team initially sent in a draft card with Louisville quarterback Teddy Bridgewater's name on it before switching to Manziel.
On the way to his chauffeured car, Haslam told The Associated Press the report was erroneous.
"That's crazy," he said. "That's nuts."
Haslam was careful not to comment directly on the fluid situation involving Pro Bowl wide receiver Josh Gordon. ESPN reported on Friday that Gordon is facing a one-year ban from the league for failing another drug test. Gordon was suspended two games last season for violating the league's substance abuse policy but still led the NFL in yards receiving.
Haslam said Gordon has made strides, and the Browns have his support.
"Josh is 22 years old, OK?" he said, "and all of us need to think back to when we were 22 or think back to when our kids were 22, OK? Josh is learning and growing and improving as a person. He's learning how to work hard. He's learning how to be a professional. Josh is a smart young man.
"All of us have made mistakes when we were that age. We're counting on Josh being a good football player for the Browns for a long time to come. We have all spent a lot of time talking to Josh and I'm not going to comment on the situation, but I'll say this, I've been very pleased with his professional growth over the last year and the way he handles himself."
BAILEY SUSPENDED FOUR GAMES
St. Louis Rams wide receiver Stedman Bailey has been suspended without pay for the first four games of the season for violating the NFL policy on performance enhancing substances.
Bailey was a third-round draft pick last year out of West Virginia, and made two starts. He had 17 receptions with a 13.3-yard average and also ran for a 27-yard touchdown.
Bailey will be eligible to return to the roster on Monday, Oct.6, before the Rams' next game against San Francisco. He is eligible to participate in all offseason and preseason practices and games.
SAM NOT HAPPY WITH LATE PICK
There’s lots of talk about what Michael Sam can and can’t do on the football field. He’s not buying into any of it — not any of the negative critiques, at least.
Sam, the SEC’s co-Defensive Player of the Year after the 2013 season, says he believes he should have been drafted in the first three rounds. Sam, from Missouri, was instead selected by the Rams with the 249th pick, late in the seventh and final round.
“From last season alone, I should’ve been in the first three rounds,” he said during a conference call Monday.
He said teams backed away from drafting him, but did not say that it is because he is a gay man.
“I knew I was going to get picked somewhere. Every team that passed me, I was thinking how I’m going to sack their quarterback,” he said. He added about the teams that passed on him: “That was their loss. But St. Louis kept me on that board.”
Sam’s game, however, is not without flaws. He has a high motor and is often is chase-mode, when it comes to tracking down quarterbacks for sacks and tackles for loss. But in the NFL, he won’t be able to line up as wide, and will have to go through elite tackles to reach the backfield.
The scouting reports are consistent on Sam, who is 6-2 and 262 pounds: He’s not athletic enough to play linebacker, not strong or skilled enough to play defensive end.
He’s also not discouraged by naysayers.
“I feel like I’m a (Jadeveon) Clowney, a first draft pick. I’m proud of where I am now,” he said.
DOC LARRY DRAFTED BY CHIEFS
The long hours Laurent Duvernay-Tardif spends at practice will seem like a vacation of sorts. The playbook will seem like a comic book. Success would be sweet, failure merely a disappointment.
The moment he heard his name called in the sixth round of the NFL draft on Saturday, the Montreal native went from being a medical student at McGill University spending 60 hours a week in neonatal intensive care units to an aspiring offensive tackle for the Kansas City Chiefs.
You see, in a draft full of intriguing stories, Doc Larry is especially unique.
After all, how many 23-year-olds are late to their adviser's house to watch the draft because they were helping to deliver twins by emergency C-section? And how many NFL hopefuls have spent their spring working at children's hospitals, first in the emergency room and later in the NICU, often handling babies that fit comfortably in his massive hands?
How many players who heard their names called over the three days of the draft have just one more year of medical school before they can call themselves a doctor?
Duvernay-Tardif plans to fit that in during summers, when he is able to take a break from football. But for now, his focus has shifted entirely to the Chiefs. He planned to be in Kansas City this week for rookie orientation, with a three-day rookie minicamp starting May 24.
"Thing is that a year ago, my dream was to play in the CFL," said Duvernay-Tardif, who played so well at the East-West Shrine Game that several teams — including the Chiefs — took notice.
"At that point, I was like, 'Oh, damn! I think the NFL is the place for me to play," he said. "Everything went well after that. I was training in the States. I had two visits and hosted my own Pro Day in Montreal and a few teams showed up. Everything went really well for me."
He has prototypical size at 6-foot-5, 315 pounds. He also has what Sperduto called a "nasty" streak on the field, which is a bit hard to reconcile with the affable med student who has been spending his time working with sick children.
"The potential that he has ahead of him is really good," general manager John Dorsey said. "Now he's going to have to learn, but what he demonstrated at the East-West Game, he actually played at a very high level. He did very well. When you have a player like that — he's got so much more room to grow."
The Chiefs lost three players who started along the offensive line on the first day of free agency, and while Kansas City made a few moves to counter the departures, there is still a pressing need for offensive line depth. Duvernay-Tardif could provide some of it.
YOUNG RELEASED BY BROWNS
Vince Young can move on with his life now — if he chooses to.
Young was released by the Cleveland Browns Monday, just a short time after he was signed on May 1 to fill in a hold for the club. Cleveland drafted Johnny Manziel and even if Young was a long shot when he was signed, he had no shot with Manziel on the roster.
Cleveland did keep Tyler Thigpen on board, but released quarterback Alex Tanney. Also released were DB Brandon Hughes, RB Fozzy Whittaker and DL Brian Sanford.
Young was drafted as the No. 3 overall pick in 2006, but hasn’t played a regular-season snap since 2011. The 30-year-old has a 31-19 career record.
Young spent five seasons with Tennessee. He started three games for the Eagles in 2011. He spent part of the past two preseasons with Buffalo and Green Bay.
Contributor: The Associated Press
