Why Did ‘Special Forces’ Star Johnny Manziel’s Leave the NFL? His Past Issues Explained

Johnny Manziel will compete in Season 4 of Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test, and he certainly has a storied history to share with the DS amid the grueling process.

Back in 2012, Manziel seemingly had it made. He was the first redshirt freshman to win the Heisman Trophy after his first season playing with Texas A&M. After another season as the team’s quarterback, he announced his intentions to forego his junior year and enter the NFL draft.

Although Manziel’s troubles off the field at the time were a deterrent for many NFL teams, who also worried that he wouldn’t be consistent in the big leagues, the pro athlete was drafted by the Cleveland Browns in 2014. However, he only played with the team for two seasons before being released in 2016 amid various legal issues.

Manziel never returned to the NFL, although he did go on to play in the Spring League, the Canadian Football League, the Alliance of American Football, and the Fan Controlled Football league. So, what happened to his NFL career? Scroll down for everything we know.

What happened to Johnny Manziel’s football career?

Manziel’s professional football career was derailed by his extracurricular activities and misconducts off the field.

His troubles began almost immediately. During a preseason game with the Browns, Manziel was fined $12,000 for giving an opponent the middle finger. He briefly entered rehab in February 2015, then made headlines that May for throwing a water bottle at a heckler during a golf tournament (no criminal charges were filed, per ESPN).

After being promoted to starting quarterback in November 2015, Manziel was quickly demoted when videos surfaced of him partying in Texas during the Browns’ bye week. He allegedly lied to his coach about when the video was filmed, according to ESPN. Weeks later, he had to sit out of a game due to a concussion, but was spotted partying in Las Vegas instead.

“I felt like I couldn’t solidify or fix my home life without going out there. So, I had this reckless, reckless plan,” Manziel later shared on the Thomahawk podcast. “On a Saturday after the walk-through, I’m going to catch a 12:00 (commercial flight). So I fly out there, I get there at 2 or 3 or whatever time it is and I’m going to stay there for three hours and I’m going to catch the 10:30 flight back so I can make my mandatory treatment session the next day.”

After being recognized in Vegas, Manziel admitted to dressing in disguise for the rest of the evening. He then missed his flight the next day, although he posted an old photo of his dog on social media to make it seem like he was having a wholesome weekend.

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In the 2023 documentary Untold: Johnny Football, Manziel admitted that he secretly began using OxyContin and cocaine daily following the 2015 football season.

The final straw for the Browns was when domestic violence allegations against Manziel surfaced in February 2016. The quarterback’s ex-girlfriend Colleen Crowley filed an affidavit in Tarrant County, Texas, referencing an alleged altercation with Manziel that had taken place a couple weeks earlier.

“I told Respondent that if I was going to spend the night, it would be on the couch. It was then that Respondent threw me on the bed. He claimed it was ‘playfully,’ but it frightened me and I took it seriously,” she claimed. “I decided I wanted leave the hotel but when I got to his room door and tried to open it, he restrained me from leaving and I tried to fight him off. I became very scared that he was going to hurt me.”

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Amid the alleged incident, Crowley claimed that Manziel forced her into his car, “hit [her] with his open hand,” and threatened to kill her and himself. In April, after he was already released by the Browns, Manziel was indicted on a “charge of misdemeanor assault with bodily injury,” per People. In November 2017, the charges were dropped after Manziel completed an anger management course and other terms that were part of a dismissal agreement, according to TMZ.

In the 2023 doc, Manziel gave some insight into what he was going through after being cut from the Browns. He said he spent $5 million on a “bender” before attempting to take his own life. “I had planned to do everything I wanted to do at that point in my life, spend as much money as I possibly could and then my plan was to take my life,” he shared. “I wanted to get as bad as humanly possible to where it made sense, and it made it seem like an excuse and an out for me.”

Manziel said he already had a gun, which he’d purchased months earlier, but it malfunctioned when he attempted to use it. “Still to this day, don’t know what happened. But the gun just clicked on me,” he revealed.

What was Johnny Manziel diagnosed with?

In 2018, Manziel announced that he had been diagnosed as bipolar and begun taking medication for it. He revealed that he received the diagnosis about a year before sharing the news publicly.

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“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,” he said on Good Morning America. “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 [my girlfriend] would all agree that they see a drastic change.”

After getting his diagnosis, Manziel began prioritizing his mental health.

Is Johnny Manziel sober?

Yes, Manziel has indicated on a number of occasions that he is sober today. During his 2018 GMA interview, he revealed that he had stopped drinking.

In 2024, he hinted that he was continuing to avoid alcohol and drugs. “Alcohol was detrimental and drugs were detrimental to where I was trying to go in my life,” he said, per Fox News. “I really didn’t see that until it was too late. The way I view things and the way I look at things now, it doesn’t have a place in my life. It doesn’t serve me any better. I’m not any better by going out and drinking or doing drugs. I’m looking to live a healthier, more pure lifestyle, and it took me a long time to get to that point.”

Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test, Season 4 Premiere, Thursday, September 25, 9/8c, Fox

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