Johnny Manziel reveals suicide attempt failed when his gun malfunctioned after his life spiraled out of control following Cleveland Browns departure
Johnny Manziel has revealed that a malfunctioning gun was the only thing that kept him from committing suicide when his life spiraled out of control following his release from the Cleveland Browns in 2016.
Manziel, now 30, has taken part in an upcoming Netflix documentary about his life and said he bought a gun when he was at his weakest.
“I think I was just running from trouble,” Manziel said. “Direct self-sabotage, trying to burn this thing down.
“I planned to do whatever I wanted to do at that point in my life. Spending as much money as possible and then my plan was to take my life.
“Months earlier I bought a gun that I knew I would use. I wanted it to get as bad as humanly possible to where it made sense, and it seemed like an excuse and a way out for me.
Johnny Manziel has spoken candidly about attempting suicide after leaving the Cleveland Browns
Manziel was fired by the Browns in 2016 after poor discipline and his life spiraled out of control
“Still, to this day I don’t know what happened, but the gun just clicked on me.”
Manziel was with the Browns for two years and developed a reputation for partying — including an infamous trip to Las Vegas in January 2016 when he had to be at team headquarters for a concussion.
In the documentary, Manziel explains that he wasn’t ready for the attention and fame that came his way when the Browns pulled him out of Texas A&M.
“I didn’t go to Texas A&M thinking I’d play two years and end up in the NFL Draft,” he said.
“And I tell people all the time that it wouldn’t have mattered where I was, what team. Wherever it was in my life at that time, I was unable to be a good NFL quarterback.”
Manziel entered rehab in 2015 but said his behavior damaged relationships with those around him.
“The people around me, closest to me, thought, ‘We’ve got to let him go.’ And you know when that happened it was a straight up, ‘I’m going to rub this whole thing in your face,'” Manziel said
But Manziel is in a much healthier place in life these days.
“It feels like a distant memory,” he said. “I’m very much looking for happiness in a more simplistic form than years ago.”
He was married to Bre Tiesi for a year until March 2019, and split amid allegations that he had cheated on her. She has since had one of Nick Cannon’s 12 children.
Earlier this year, his current girlfriend Kenzie Werner claimed her account was hacked when allegations of domestic violence were posted against Manziel.
“Hacked last night,” she wrote on her Instagram Story. ‘I just got my account back.
Please ignore what has been posted. It’s not what it seems.’