Cavs Injuries and Lamar Odom’s life: While We’re Waiting…
October 20, 2015Browns CB Ifo Ekpre-Olomu receives record $3 million insurance policy
October 20, 2015Last Monday, just before 6 p.m., a white Nissan flew down Interstate 90 near Avon, Ohio. The occurrence was not terribly unusual, at least until said white Nissan began erratically weaving in and out of traffic. The driver sped up, using the left shoulder to fly past other cars, finally slowing down enough to cut across four lanes of traffic and exit the interstate. All the while, a distraught female passenger frantically tried to exit the speeding vehicle—as the driver tried frantically to hold on.
More details are coming to light about the domestic dispute involving Cleveland Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel and his girlfriend Colleen Crowley, as an alcohol-fueled argument between the two spiraled out of control on Oct. 12. That evening, as an early dusk settled in the western suburbs of Cleveland, the 911 calls started rolling in.
“There’s a white Nissan on 90 and… they’re flying,” the first caller said. “There’s a lady in the passenger seat trying to jump out,” she continued. “The guy is holding her… by her neck.”
That caller, seemingly unaware of who was behind the wheel of the Nissan, lost sight of Manziel and Crowley when their vehicle exited the interstate at Nagel Road in Avon. Shortly after, a second call came in.
“I’m here on Nagel… right by the entrance to 90,” the second caller calmly stated. “There seems to be some sort of domestic disturbance.”
“Is it, by chance, with a white Nissan?” the dispatcher asked.
It was, by chance.
https://soundcloud.com/newsnet5-670623973/911-call-johnny-manziel-domestic-incident
“The girl is crying,” the caller continued. “It appears she might be intoxicated.”
In the background of the call, Manziel can be heard frantically pleading—first with Crowley, and then with the caller. “Baby, please!” he yelled. “Just let me go home! I’m sober! Please!”
By the time Avon Police arrived, Crowley was sitting on the side of Nagel Road with her back toward traffic. Another woman, the second 911 caller, was standing nearby.
An upset Manziel explained to police that he and Crowley had been downtown together and yes, they had been drinking. A fight arose, Manziel said, when he told Crowley that he wanted to pick up a friend.
Johhny Manziel Police report. Looks like many haven't read it. pic.twitter.com/OLEW79K7Ku
— Joe (@WakandaFourEva) October 19, 2015
According to Manziel, Crowley protested. “You want to go see some other girls, that’s why you want to hang out with him. Blah, blah, blah, blah,” Manziel told police of Crowley’s concerns—calling the argument a “little bit” that had come up between them. He had pulled over on Nagel when Crowley threw his wallet out the car window.
Minutes earlier, a shaken and slurring Crowley told police “I don’t know… he hit me a couple times.” Police would find only one mark, a red abrasion about the length of an iPhone on her left forearm. They believed it be the result of Manziel attempting to hold her inside the Nissan as it sped down 90.
Browns linebacker Paul Kruger, described in the police report as a “co-worker of Manziel’s,” happened upon the scene and stopped.
“He doesn’t need to be here! He has nothing to do with it,” Crowley shouted through tears. “No, it’s not fair. He needs to go.”
Kruger casually leaned on his white BMW, chatting with an officer as he took in the scene. “She’s not the right one he should be with, I’ll tell you that much,” he said, before obliging Crowley and leaving.
Manziel and Crowley would leave shortly after, as well. Together. No charges were filled and, as of now, no disciplinary action has been taken by the Browns—or the NFL.
♦♦♦
In a press conference that should have been dominated by questions regarding Sunday’s heartbreaking overtime loss to the Denver Broncos, all eyes, ears, and tape recorders were instead pointed squarely at one subject: Johnny Manziel.
“I certainly understand the interest,” head coach Mike Pettine told the media on Monday afternoon, “But I’m not going to go into a ton of detail about what occurred with Johnny. As we said in our statement, it’s a personal matter.”
That statement, of course, wouldn’t stop the corps of reporters from launching a barrage of questions anyway. They pressed. Pettine resisted. No GM or owner flanking his side, it seemed the only thing Pettine wasn’t willing to talk about was the only thing on everyone’s minds.
He defended the team’s choice to not deactivate Manziel in Sunday’s loss, less than 48 hours after news of the incident with Crowley set fire across local and national media. “We took into account all of the information that we had and made the decision that we made to have him up,” he said. “That’s the decision that we made based on the information we had.”
Would the Browns trade Manziel? Pettine wouldn’t discuss potential roster moves. Would they discipline him? Again, Pettine wouldn’t go into detail.
Are the Browns expecting an investigation, disciplinary action, or anything from the NFL as a result of the incident? Pettine would only say that he didn’t know. “The league gets involved when there are cases like this. I don’t know what their timetable is; I don’t know the specifics,” he said.
And then, Pettine was asked if Manziel is a distraction to the team. “It’s certainly there – we’re aware of it,” he said. “But I think it’s much more outside of the building than it is internal. I think our guys see how he is when he’s here. Yeah, he’s involved in an incident and guys are concerned, but at the same time, I don’t see it as a huge distraction for our players.” Not long thereafter, former Browns running back Eric Metcalf went public with his thoughts that the team should part ways with the quarterback surrounding all the “negativity” he brings off of the field.
And now, as is always the case with Cleveland sports teams, we wait to see what happens next.
57 Comments
The actual rumored affair? Or the rumored part about a DB UFA coming to town with a deal in place from Kokinis only to find out that Mangini had veto power and vetoed? Or the rumored sleeping (actual sleeping) in the office?
Nothing ever proven as far as I know.
Oh that LoL. It’s coming back to me now. George Cocainus I mean Kokinis.
We all knew the circus was coming to town the night we drafted him. Many thought it was worth it to be accompanied by talent. So far it’s all circus and no talent. I wish we had taken Bridgewater and a WR that year but what’s done is done.
Now, play him. One 9 teams in the NFL have ever made the playoffs after starting 1-3. This will not be #10. Shut all the Manzelots up, and play him til the end, or he gets “injured” again. Then we’ll know what we have and can move on. But waiting til we’re mathematically eliminated again serves no purpose.
We need to do some serious talent evaluation for this season, for the next GM next year. (Another move that should happen now if the owner had half a brain)
We’re starting from scratch again in 2016, and the sooner we all accept that, the better off we’ll be. Enough half measures. Cut guys. Take the salary hit now. Trade Thomas, and Haden for picks. They’re not leaders and they’re leaving anyway if they have any desire to win. I don’t care if we play 3rd stringers out of position for the rest of the year. We weren’t going to win anyway. This team doesn’t know how.
hi HC … if you’re pettine you’re playing to win now , not next year. mccown gives him the best chance to win right now.
Fortunately for us, the guy who became president was infinitely better than the Muslim, Marxist who replaced him.
And that’s exactly our problem. We go into every gun fight thinking we have a chance to win, but we brought a squirt gun, and no water. Does anyone think we’re going to the playoffs with this defense and these offensive skill players? Absolutely not! but we keep deluding ourselves into thinking we’re one player away. We’re not. This year would have been the best year for the Browns to make a move, Pitt’s hurt, Ravens rebuilding. But we’ve missed on our last 6 1st round picks, and probably most of our 2nd round picks during that time. We’ve got no bullets for the gun.
Pettine needs to go to Jimmy, and lay out the facts. It’s likely he’s going to be fired anyway. He needs to tell Jimmy, we have no skill players, we have no team leaders, and we’re not winning 6 games this season with our “first stringers”. Let me play whomever I want, so we can really see what we need in free agency and the draft. Let me cut guys immediately, no one’s safe. We need to fix the locker room, and without serious measures that’s not going to happen.
But we won’t. We’ll fire the coach, we’ll get another unproven coordinator guy who is too worried about his job to keep players accountable, we’ll get another rookie GM/ scout who promises improvement in 1 year.
But hey, it’s never worked for the past 16 years, 17 is the charm right?
“these offensive skill players” (d.johnson , benjamin , barnidge , mccown & manziel) have all more than surpassed everyone’s expectations … these guys have all played well & good enough to win , only to be let down by the defense. the browns have looked like a competitive nfl team except for the 2nd half against the jets & the 1st half against the raiders. simply fix the defense & we should improve.
and if mr. haslam & farmer are smart , they’ll keep the whole gang (FO) together.