Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel unleashed a homophobic rant at a Cleveland sports radio host on Thursday more than a decade after his infamous NFL career came to an abrupt ending with the Browns.
In September, Manziel took a shot at his former team during a podcast by telling co-hosts Shannon Sharpe and Chad Johnson he hopes the Browns go 0-16 every season. As he explained to the retired NFL stars, Manziel has ‘no love for the Browns,’ adding that he will ‘hate them forever.’
ESPN Cleveland radio host Tony Rizzo responded to that months-old interview on Thursday by chiding the party boy quarterback, who was famously released in March of 2016 following months of off-the-field issues and poor on-field results.
‘What did anyone do for you except root for you to win, and when it went south, ok, that’s how it goes?’ Rizzo asked rhetorically on his program. ‘Why the hate? Why the hate for the team that drafted you?’
Manziel responded in a since-deleted post on X by attacking Rizzo and referring to current Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson, who has been sued by dozens of women, mostly massage therapists, over allegations of sexual misconduct dating back to his time in Houston.
‘Rizz, you stupid c***,’ Manziel wrote on X. ‘These comments were made in October of last year but of course you bored homos in the Cleveland media have nothing to speak about because your quarterback stopped banging massage therapists and you can only speak about losing so much to all of the people that listen to this trash ass show.’
Johnny Manziel talks onset prior to the 20222 SEC Championship between LSU and Georgia
Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel unleashed a homophobic rant at a Cleveland sports radio host on Thursday more than a decade after his infamous NFL career came to an end
ESPN Cleveland radio host Tony Rizzo responded to that months-old interview on Thursday by chiding the party boy quarterback for his wasted two-year tenure with the Browns
Watson has never explicitly admitted to the misconduct or assault but has settled 26 civil lawsuits and did serve an 11-game suspension over the allegations.
These days, the 30-year-old Watson is once again battling for the starting job in Cleveland, while the 33-year-old Manziel has been moonlighting as a college football analyst and media personality.
Manziel has also admitted to battling substance-abuse issues in the past and now claims to be sober.
‘My tenure in Cleveland was doomed by a lot more people than just be[sic],’ Manziel continued on X. ‘I’ve taken plenty of responsibility for my failures in that building and in that city. Tom Brady couldn’t have won with our roster from 2015. Just move on, f*** off and leave me out of this bulls***.’
As expected, fans were displeased with Manziel’s since-deleted post.
Manziel was a first-round draft pick out of Texas A&M, but failed to live up to expectations
‘Manziel has taken so much accountability and has grown so much that the minute he takes his ass to this platform is to spill homophobic slurs,’ Browns blogger Ernesto Cova wrote on X.
‘Johnny dropping ‘homos’ as an insult in 2026 is peak Johnny Football,’ one critic wrote, referring to Manziel’s nickname at Texas A&M. ‘Whether on field or off, the kid’s got zero awareness. And honestly…that’s what made him a can’t miss draft target for the Browns.’
‘Johnny is a b**** and sucked badly,’ another critic followed. ‘He was quite literally laughed out of the league… lol so… yeah… go Johnny… you dumbass, go!’
Manziel has not played football since a stint in the now-defunct Fan Controlled Football league in 2022. Prior to that, he’d played a season with the CFL’s Montreal Alouettes but tossed seven interceptions to just five touchdowns and quickly found himself in the since-shuttered Alliance of American Football League.
Things looked dramatically different in 2014, when Manziel was taken by the Cleveland Browns in the first round of the NFL Draft. But after partying his way across two NFL seasons, Manziel fell from grace and was later diagnosed with bipolar disorder before entering a recovery program.
