Johnny Football: The controversial true story of Johnny Manziel

Johnny Football is a new sports documentary heading to Netflix this week, so here’s the controversial true story of the film’s subject – Johnny Manziel.

Johnny Football is a new entry in the Netflix UNTOLD series. There have been two volumes of the anthology show thus far, with previous entries including Malice at the Palace, Deal with the Devil, The Race of the Century, Operation Flagrant Foul, and Caitlyn Jenner.

Volume 3 has already launched with Jake Paul and the Problem Child. While future installments include Hall of Shame, which revolves around the Victor Conte doping scandal. And Swamp Kings, about Florida Gators coach Urban Meyer.

On August 8, a film about American Football star Johnny Manziel launches. Here’s the story behind the story of the player they call Johnny Football.

Johnny Football true story: Who is Johnny Manziel?

Born in Texas in 1992, Johnny Manziel attended Tivy High School in Kerrville, where he excelled in all sports, but especially American Football, earning himself the nickname “Johnny Football.”

Manziel played Varsity at the end of his first season, starting out a receiver, but soon progressing to quarterback. Through his time at Tivy, he broke records, won awards, and eventually earned himself a place at the Prestigious Texas A&M University. Though, he also ran into trouble with the law and found himself briefly suspended for selling autographs.

Manziel continued to break records while at Texas A&M, becoming the first freshman and fifth player in NCAA history to pass for 3,000 yards and rush for 1,000 yards in a season. He also became the first freshman to win the Heisman Trophy, and led his team to a win over Oklahoma in the 2013 Cotten Bowl.

Trouble at the Cleveland Browns

Johnny Football was drafted by the Cleveland Browns as the 22nd overall pick in 2014. But while he started well, Manziel struggled with consistency – which coincided with yet more off-the-field troubles.

In October 2015, the police were called when he was arguing with his girlfriend at the side of the road, although Manziel wasn’t arrested or charged with anything. A month later the Browns benched Manziel over a video of him partying. While he got in even more trouble for lying to his coaches about said footage. Then in early 2016, Manziel was spotted in a Las Vegas casino on the night before the team’s final game of the season.

Soon after Manziel’s marketing agency dropped him. Then following a domestic violence investigation, the Cleveland Browns released him, and Nike severed ties with the player.

Manziel spent two years out of the game, before joining the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the Canadian Football League. That was followed by spells at the Montreal Alouettes and Memphis Express. While Manziel is now playing for indoor team the FCF Zappers.

What is Johnny Football about?

Johnny Football is about the rise and fall of Johnny Manziel, featuring interviews with the man himself, as well as friends, teammates, and coaches. Here’s how Netflix describes the documentary:

“In 2012, the brightest star in all of sports was undersized freshman quarterback Johnny Manziel from unheralded Texas A&M, whose fervor on the field was rivaled only by his hard-partying ways off it. Dubbed ‘Johnny Football,’ the magnetic football player captured the nation’s attention and initially relished his alter ego: ‘I wanted to be Johnny Football. Johnny Football never had a bad time,’ he says.

“But as the money rolled in, the scrutiny heightened, and Manziel rejected his newfound fame and suddenly lost his way. With astonishing candor, Manziel — along with his family, coaches, former best friend, and agent — details what happened behind the scenes as scandals piled up in the glare of paparazzi flashbulbs. He fumbled his shot at NFL success after the Cleveland Browns picked him in the first round of the NFL draft in 2014, but Manziel went on to search for something even greater.”

The film is directed by Ryan Duffy, who previously helmed UNTOLD entry The Girlfriend Who Didn’t Exist.

“I hope viewers take away a nuanced and intimate understanding of Johnny and the running tension between his life as Johnny Football and Johnny Manziel,” Duffy says in a statement to Netflix. “This isn’t one of those sports docs on an older player looking back on victory or defeat and reflecting accordingly in a tidy ending. Johnny is still midstream in a lot of this, and I hope this doc offers a compelling and honest look at his present tense processing.”

Johnny Football launches on August 8, 2023. While details of the Jake Paul documentary can be found here.