Johnny Manziel's Entourage Allegedly Involved in Fight in Downtown Cleveland

Timothy Rapp @@TRappaRTFeatured ColumnistNovember 24, 2014

USA Today

Cleveland Browns rookie quarterback Johnny Manziel was allegedly involved in a fight late last week at a downtown Cleveland apartment complex. The young quarterback spoke about the allegations on Friday.

Continue for updates.

Friday, Nov. 28

Manziel Speaks About Alleged Incident

Mary Kay Cabot of The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer passed along Manziel's statements on the incident:

Mary Kay Cabot @MaryKayCabot
#browns manziel said the man who accosted him Friday night was "very intoxicated" and "very aggressive."

Mary Kay Cabot @MaryKayCabot
#Browns manziel said (Gonos) "came at me, put his hands on me, was extremely aggressive"

Mary Kay Cabot @MaryKayCabot
#browns manziel said he and his roommate tried to diffuse the situation as professionally as possible.

Mary Kay Cabot @MaryKayCabot
#browns manziel's face showed no signs of having been "smashed, smashed," as Gonos claims it was.

ESPN's Jeremy Fowler noted what Manziel didn't discuss in his interview:

Jeremy Fowler @JFowlerESPN
One thing Manziel didn’t want to go into details about is whether he threw or took a punch. Said it all happened very quickly

Monday, Nov. 24

Manziel Reportedly Involved in Fight

Cleveland Browns rookie quarterback Johnny Manziel was allegedly involved in a fight early Saturday morning at a downtown Cleveland apartment complex.

According to Doug Brown of CleveScene.com, 33-year-old Chris Gonos noticed Manziel at the complex around 2:30 a.m. Saturday and said to the quarterback, "I'm the biggest Browns fan ever, I love you, I want to give you a hug." Per the police report, Gonos claims that someone in Manziel's crew then punched him in the face, causing a fight to break out.

Gonos also claimed to CleveScene.com that Manziel punched his brother, who tackled the backup quarterback.

Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com has more:

Jeremy Fowler @JFowlerESPN
Skimming through police report of Manziel incident. Manziel is not listed as a suspect. Browns releasing statement shortly.

Jeremy Fowler @JFowlerESPN
There's video footage of the incident involving Manziel and his crew, according to the police report.

General manager Ray Farmer also commented on the incident:

We are aware of the incident and are in the process of gathering additional information in order to gain a complete understanding of what occurred. Nonetheless, the time of the incident is concerning to us. We continually stress to all of our players the importance of sound decision making in an effort to avoid putting themselves in these types of situations. We have addressed this appropriately with the player and will have no further comment at this time.

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Head coach Mike Pettine also discussed the report, via Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon Journal and Zac Jackson of Fox Sports Ohio:

Nate Ulrich @NateUlrichABJ
#Browns HC Mike Pettine said he's discussed incident with Johnny Manziel. Said he wasn't in violation of team rules.

Zac Jackson @AkronJackson
Pettine: "We have discussed the incident. It was a conversation between a coach and a player."

Mike Garafolo of Fox Sports reports on what colleague Jay Glazer has heard about how the Browns plan to proceed with Manziel:

Mike Garafolo @MikeGarafolo
Per @JayGlazer, Browns are waiting to see security tape of Manziel incident. As long as it matches what Manziel told him, no discipline.

Manziel's agent also issued a statement, via Garafolo:

Mike Garafolo @MikeGarafolo
Statement from Johnny Manziel's agent @ErikBurkhardt http://t.co/bQyoauFh2d

Mike Freeman of Bleacher Report put the incident in some perspective:

mike freeman @mikefreemanNFL
No, Manziel didn't start anything. Yes, he has a right to be out. But do you think this would happened to Andrew Luck?

Albert Breer of NFL Network added his take:

Albert Breer @AlbertBreer
Details of the fight don't sound that unusual ... Just one thing leading to another to another. But that's why teams don't want players out.

Manziel was a source of constant media attention during his days at Texas A&M, something the Browns were aware of when they selected him in the first round of the 2014 NFL draft. The solid play of Brian Hoyer and Cleveland's 7-4 start to the season have largely made the Heisman winner irrelevant this season.

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