Johnny Manziel Still Doesn't Get How Being an NFL Player Works

I feel sorry for Johnny Manziel.

These are not words you will see or hear often. I can't blame anyone who doesn't like Manziel or chuckles at the notion of him deserving sympathy. The "money sign" thingy. The trademarking of Johnny Football. Saying he would wreck the league. I predicted his time in Cleveland would be a disaster, and it has been one of the more epic ones in recent NFL history. Yes, the pomposity goes back a long way with Manziel, and much of his implosion is self-inflicted.      

Yet I spent the past few days talking to Browns players—guys I've spoken to before about Manziel since he was drafted—and some of what they said made me rethink my opinions on Manziel. As he recovers from Waterbottlegate, there are lessons to be learned—not just for Manziel, but for a lot of rookies entering the sport.

There was one comment from a Browns player that really said a great deal. The player said that entering the NFL, "I don't think Johnny fully understood exactly what he was walking into."

As an example, the player went back to Manziel's start last year against Cincinnati. "Johnny worked hard, but it's all relative," he explained. "His work ethic still didn't come close to matching [then Browns quarterback] Brian [Hoyer]."

Mark Duncan/Associated Press

The player said that Manziel still had that wreck-this-league mindset and lacked the humility to fully comprehend that the Bengals were going to be gunning for him. "Johnny didn't understand just how much the Bengals wanted to beat the living s--t out of him," the player said.

Opponents tend to remember when a rookie says he's going to wreck a league. The Bengals certainly did. They beat Cleveland 30-0, intercepted Manziel twice and held him to 80 passing yards. After the game, Adam Jones (speaking of not getting it early in a career) told the NFL Network's Mike Silver: "This is what this game's about—when you get between the lines, you see if you can rattle someone and get under his skin. I think we played with an edge today. It's a lot different playing quarterback on this level. There are some throws you can get away with in college that you can't throw in the NFL, against this kind of speed."

Many rookie quarterbacks not named Peyton Manning or Andrew Luck have difficulty adjusting to the speed of the game. But Manziel came into the league speaking of wrecking it, fueling opponents with his cockiness and making the game that much faster. When it was time for teams to take their shot at him, boy, did they take it.

This feeds into the larger Manziel picture and why I actually feel for him. The player wasn't just talking about the specific Bengals game when he said Manziel didn't know what he was walking into. He meant it on a macro level, and in that way, Manziel still doesn't seem to get what exactly he's walked into.

This is a league where high-profile players are constantly watched, poked and prodded by everyone—especially fans. This is the nastiest sport in the country, so when you're a Manziel and you walk into it with your trademarks and your money thingy and your wreck this comments, you will be a target.

The league is hard enough. There are guys retiring from it in their 20s. 

All rookies are targets, but a guy like Manziel is a walking bull's-eye. For players. For media. For punk fake tough-guy fans who like to harass players at golf tournaments.

This doesn't mean Manziel should just sit in front of his laptop at home and watch Deep Space Nine on Blu-ray. But there has to be a picking and choosing of spots. Or he needs to hire a security team for when he goes out.

That's not fair, but it's reality for Manziel. He built up a persona that was cocky and unflappable. There is always going to be some idiot who wants to engage that persona. The unfortunate part for Manziel is that he will either need to build a wall between him and some of the ignorant fools who will approach him or chill more in his condo with the playbook.

Charles Barkley said on Colin Cowherd's ESPN radio show that some people just need punching in the face and Manziel's boys should have stepped in to protect him. There are two problems with that. First, friends aren't trained to keep jerks away. Not their wheelhouse. Friends jumping in could actually lead to an escalation. Second, remember the country we live in. Lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of Americans own guns. Some people don't fight. They shoot.

The reason I don't think Manziel fully gets the NFL world he's now in is that most other NFL quarterbacking stars don't get into tussles. Manziel has now been in two public incidents. Aaron Rodgers wouldn't be baited into throwing a water bottle at someone. Russell Wilson and Ciara are visiting children's hospitals. And a few parties. No water bottles were injured. Eli Manning lives in Hoboken, New Jersey, a pretty good restaurant/party town. No water bottles. He hangs with his family. The only uncomfortable thing Peyton has done in public is call his kicker an idiot.

Again, none of this is perfect. Look at what happened with Tom Brady and his bodyguards. But most of the time, that kind of protection works. Not all the time, most of the time.

There have been exceptions, but most true QB leaders don't get into one instance of public trouble, let alone several. They know what they've walked into.

Manziel may be one of those guys who never gets that.

And that's why I feel sorry for him.

Manziel this past Saturday was at the team's fan fest and signed a baby. The baby didn't throw a binky, and Manziel didn't throw a bottle.

It was a good day.

Mike Freeman covers the NFL for Bleacher Report.