Johnny Manziel has entered a rehab facility to work on his issues.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel, who's been photographed partying from coast to coast since the day he was drafted, entered a treatment facility Wednesday and is getting the help he needs, according to a family friend and advisor.
"Brad Beckworth, a friend and advisor to Manziel and his family, has confirmed that Johnny entered treatment on Wednesday,'' a statement from Manziel's publicist read. "Johnny knows there are areas in which he needs to improve in order to be a better family member, friend and teammate, and he thought the offseason was the right time to take this step.
"On behalf of Johnny and his family, we're asking for privacy until he rejoins the team in Cleveland."
The Browns also released the following statement from general manager Ray Farmer:
"We respect Johnny's initiative in this decision and will fully support him throughout this process. Our players' health and well-being will always be of the utmost importance to the Cleveland Browns. We continually strive to create a supportive environment and provide the appropriate resources, with our foremost focus being on the individual and not just the football player.
"Johnny's privacy will be respected by us during this very important period and we hope that others will do the same."
Manziel's partying was chronicled over the last year, from floating on swans to rolling up a bill in the bar of a bathroom, which the Browns found most "disturbing,'' sources told Northeast Ohio Media Group.
Manziel was fined for oversleeping the day before the season finale at Baltimore and admitted he partied too hard the night before.
He said he had to "make deals with himself'' and seemed conflicted about his own inability to stop taking one step forward and two steps backward.
The day after the season, Manziel spoke in the locker room and stressed that he often struggles to do the right thing.
"There's nothing I can sit here and tell you (that will make this go away),'' he said. "I can't sit here and talk to these mics or these cameras or anything that's going to do any good. It's about actions, it's about being accountable and doing what I'm going to say instead of looking like a jackass."
Manziel, who bolted for South Beach shortly after that interview and has been photographed since that day partying there, in Aspen, Colo. with Josh Gordon and in Houston, admitted that he overslept for his hamstring treatment because he partied too hard the night before. The Browns dispatched security to his house to make sure he was okay.
"I was just letting my guard down a little bit,'' he said. "I think that's exactly what it was. It was a mistake by me and if I'm going to continue to not learn from some of these things -- because when I sat here and talked to you guys last Tuesday, there's not a bit of doubt that goes into my mind that I'm completely serious about everything that I'm talking about moving forward.
"But at the same time, you can sit here and say and talk and say this all you want, but when your actions don't reflect that, and you make a conscious decision to put yourself in the position that you stay out too late and not wake up the next morning, that's going to cause a lot of trouble, so I did that to myself.
"I brought this on myself. I brought these cameras and all these people that are in this locker room right now and I don't think it's fair to myself, I don't think it's fair to anybody in this locker room the distractions I've brought at points in time.
"So I'm sorry to these guys that are veterans in this locker room and know what it takes, that I'm having to learn the hard way. At the same time, I'm either going to learn or I'm going to be finding something else to do."
Manziel, who had vowed just days earlier to dedicate himself to the game and swore he had grown up, asked the Browns not to lose faith in him.
"I think I've been a work in progress throughout this year,'' he said. "There have been a lot of ups and downs. There have been some good things and bad things. You know but I'm still an extremely competitive person and know what I want to do in my life. I know what is important to me and now it is time to come in here, look at myself in the mirror and hold myself accountable and start making some deals with myself.
"These problems I'm doing in my life that are occurring every now and then are bumps, and things in the past have caught up to me. I need to start doing every single thing and everything the right way and if I don't I'm going to be exposed."
He acknowledged that he cheated the fans, who embraced him from the moment he was drafted.
"I don't think I've been fair to them as well,'' he said. "I didn't come out and perform this year and that's what it comes down to. It was a different situation for me than I had been in the past. I'm upset with how I have handled things at times. I did grow up and then I took a step back. It is the same story with me. We're taking one step forward and then two steps back.
"Now it is really in my court. What do I want to do and what do I want to be known as? Do I want to be known as a guy who has been in this league two years and now doing something different with his life or come in here and compete, give this thing a fair chance and work my ass off to be the quarterback and person I know I am. Am I going to put the time in and do what I need to do to be successful and that's what it comes down to."
After the season, Browns owner Jimmy Haslam, coach Mike Pettine and general manager Ray Farmer all stressed that Manziel needed to demonstrate this offseason that he was willing to change.
"Johnny has to show on and off the field he can be a professional,'' Haslam said at the Greater Cleveland Sports Awards last month. "He knows that. Everybody in the organization has told him that. It'll be up to Flip (new offensive coordinator John DeFilippo) and Pett to decide whether he can be the kind of quarterback we need him to be. He knows what we expect of him on and off the field and it's up to him to prove he can do that.''
Pettine said in his season-ending press conference that the quarterback situation was "muddy at best'' and that Manziel's performance in his two starts "wasn't very encouraging.'' He also said the Browns would do everything possible to upgrade their quarterback situation.
"As far as getting that position right moving forward we'll spend the most amount of time on it and we'll leave no stone unturned,'' said Pettine. "We can't assume anything -- we can't. Every year is different. We'll assess the position and make what we feel are the best moves for us in 2015. For me there's no sense of entitlement for where he was drafted therefore he is the starter. We're not going to connect those dots.''
Pettine stressed that Manziel had to show him he was dedicated instead of just saying it.
"I've had great talks with him,'' said Pettine. "But I do agree...and he realizes this, that at some point, the talk is cheap. To me, the actions, and he's gotten himself to the point where his actions to me are much more important than what he says."
For the Browns, Manziel checking into a rehab facility has to be a strong statement that he's willing to change.
