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After his NFL career ended, Johnny Manziel, also known as Johnny Football, dropped 40 pounds on a “strict diet of blow.” He went from 210 pounds to 170 pounds just months after leaving the Cleveland Browns.
In a two-hour-long interview with former Denver Broncos tight end Shannon Sharpe, Manziel opened up about his struggles with addiction on the “Club Shay Shay” podcast. He admitted hitting rock bottom after failing the Browns in 2015, so he turned to the Las Vegas scene for a pick-me-up.
Maiziel Didn’t Recognize His Own Reflection
According to him, this lifestyle adjustment included a lot of cocaine, which drastically altered his figure.
“At that point in time, man,” Manziel said, “I would look in a mirror and I didn’t see myself any different than when I was in Cleveland. Until I stepped on a scale at the Cosmopolitan Hotel in Las Vegas, I didn’t realize I had lost 40 pounds at all.”
“I remember these pictures came out,” he continued. “I was like, ‘Damn. What am I doing? Ah, whatever, we’ll figure that out later. Let’s go again.'”
During his short-lived career at the Browns, he claimed that LeBron James attempted to take him under his arm, but a nasty addiction and subsequent depression made him push James away.
“LeBron would text me every week to come over to the house and watch a game or play poker with the boys and just tried to be there,” Manziel said. “And I was so depressed for the first time in my life that even my biggest role model and inspiration in my life couldn’t get me out of bed to come and hang out with him.”
He Was Diagnosed With Bipolar Disorder In 2018
In an interview with Good Morning America in 2018, Manziel revealed that he had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder for which he was taking medication.
“At the end of the day I can’t help that my wires are a little bit differently crossed than yours, I can’t help my mental makeup of the way that I was created,” Manziel said. “But I know if I stay on these meds and I continue to do what I am doing right now … I think my dad, my mom, I think [girlfriend Bre Tiesi], would all agree that they see a drastic change.”
At the time, Manziel was dating real estate agent and social media personality Breana Tiesi, whom he married that same year. Their divorce was finalized in 2021.
Manziel won the Heisman Trophy at Texas A&M in 2012, becoming the first freshman to claim the award. For the 2022 season, Manziel returned as a player-coach for the FCF Zappers, based out of Atlanta, Georgia.
