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Former Browns QB criticizes Johnny Manziel after Netflix documentary
Johnny Manziel. Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

Former Browns QB criticizes Johnny Manziel after Netflix documentary

Current Fox Sports Radio personality Brady Quinn felt little sympathy for fellow former Cleveland Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel after viewing some of the Netflix "Untold: Johnny Football" documentary released this week. 

"I saw about, I don't know, 10-15 minutes [of the documentary] -- what bothered me the most about that is that is an example of a player who got drafted into a bad organization, but yet didn't do anything to try to make it better," Quinn explained during the "2 Pros and a Cup of Joe" program, per Wil Leitner of iHeartRadio. "I'm like, 'Why do you want people to feel bad for you for the different issues that you face when you're openly admitting you didn't put in any work to it?' You didn't even attempt to be a professional athlete prepared for your job, and yet you're being paid millions. Why is that a laughing or entertaining point or moment in any docuseries?" 

Quinn was referencing how Manziel revealed for the documentary that he watched zero film during at least a portion of his Browns tenure, which comprised the 2014 and 2015 seasons. Manziel, who previously discussed self-medicating via substance abuse to cope with his bipolar disorder and mental health issues, also said during the documentary that "it didn't take me very long to be in Cleveland to find out that I wasn't going to be happy there" and shared that he attempted to take his own life after the Browns cut him in March 2016.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Mike Evans, Manziel's teammate with the Texas A&M Aggies, and NFL Draft bust Ryan Leaf are among members of the football community who have focused on the mental health aspect of the documentary since the project's release. Quinn, who flopped with the Browns as a first-round pick several years before Manziel won the Heisman Trophy, instead criticized the former "Johnny Football" for wasting a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. 

"The reality is he took up someone's draft pick and didn't even attempt to prepare to be a professional quarterback," Quinn added about Manziel. "If I'm a Browns fan, if I'm even a Johnny Manziel fan, I'm kind of like, 'Come on, dude, you had a shot at this and you didn't try? You don’t watch any film? You didn't prepare?'"

One will never know if Manziel's demons prevented him from finding success at the highest level or if he was simply destined to flame out as an NFL quarterback for a myriad of reasons. If nothing else, it seems Quinn isn't a fan of Manziel participating in the Netflix documentary in the first place. 

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