Editor’s Note: If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide, help is available. You are not alone. For readers in Canada, here are some resources.
— Crisis Services Canada, which can be reached by phone at 833-456-4566.
— Residents of Quebec can call 866-277-3553 (APPELLE).
— Regional text messaging services can be found on the Crisis Services Canada website.
— Kids Help Phone, which can be called toll-free at 1-800-668-6868. A text option exists too by texting CONNECT to 686868.
— Hope for Wellness Help Line, a service available to all Indigenous peoples across Canada who need immediate crisis intervention that provides experienced and culturally sensitive help-line counsellors if you want to talk. An online chat option exists too.
Johnny Manziel was once viewed as the next big star quarterback in the NFL, but his career took a dramatic turn for the worse.
It got so bad, the 2012 Heisman Trophy winner with Texas A&M revealed in a new documentary that he attempted suicide in the months after the Cleveland Browns cut him in 2016.
At the time, Manziel faced a misdemeanour assault charge after being accused of hitting and threatening his then-girlfriend. The charges were dismissed after he agreed to certain conditions, including completing anger management and attending a domestic violence victim impact panel.
The former quarterback revealed in Netflix’s “Untold: Johnny Football” that he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and he refused to enter rehab. He began using OxyContin and cocaine daily and dropped from 215 pounds in January to 175 in September.
He also purchased a handgun a few months before he went on a “$5-million bender.” When he attempted to use the gun to take his own life, it malfunctioned.
“I planned to do everything that I wanted to do at that point of my life, spend as much money as I possibly could,” Manziel said, via The Dallas Morning News. “Then my plan was to take my life.
“I still to this day don’t know what happened, but the gun just clicked on me. I couldn’t fix what I had done … with the NFL, with A&M, everything at that point in time. … The ride was over.”
Ryan Duffy, who directed the documentary, told The Athletic that Johnny Manziel brought up the suicide attempt while they were discussing the project over dinners and video calls.
After he was cut by the Browns, Manziel signed in 2018 with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats after a lengthy contract negotiation. The CFL had completed a thorough process to determine Manziel’s eligibility, including an assessment by an independent expert on domestic violence, a review by legal counsel, and an in-person discussion conducted by league commissioner Randy Ambrosie.
Manziel was traded to the Montreal Alouettes, where he played went 2-6 as a starter, completing 106-of-165 passes (64.2 per cent) for 1,290 yards with five TDs and seven interceptions. The league then directed the Alouettes to release Manziel after he had contravened an agreement that made him eligible to play in the league, the details of which are not known.
The 30-year-old spent time in the Alliance of American Football before the league suspended operations, then in the Fan Controlled Football until the 2022 season.
Now, Manziel is preparing for the opening of his new restaurant/nightclub “Johnny Manziel’s Money Bar,” which will be in College Station, Texas, the town where Texas A&M is located.
–With files from the Canadian Press and Associated Press