This once-all-American kid—whose claim to fame as a Texas A&M superstar, Heisman Trophy winner, and an NFL quarterback long ago earned him the title Johnny Football—is now infamous for spiraling out of control, leaving a wake of destruction in his path. It's an unfortunate turn of events that many claim they didn't see coming. My question is, how could you not? I saw it coming before he graduated from A&M. Perhaps it takes one to know one or maybe it's just common sense.
Every addict leads a double life, but not every addict is forced to do it in the spotlight.
The thing about the rise and fall of Johnny Manziel is he's not so different from millions of others in the US who slip slide into the depths hell as a result of alcoholism and addiction. Most addicts, however, aren't in the spotlight when it happens so their shame and incomprehensible demoralization is a lot more private. For Manziel, this very public fall from grace also comes with an almost apocalyptic crushing of public expectations.
But those expectations are not Johnny's to own or make amends for, they are on us, and it's time for America to wake up and recognize our part in this. We are partially responsible for setting kids like Johnny up for destruction.
We need to own this.
We need to own this.
Let's examine how when we treat kids like demigods, throw millions of dollars at them, promise them fame and fortune, and then send the paparazzi their way, it's the same as giving them an Arsenic cocktail, especially if they are wired for addiction or depression.
Last February, I wrote a blog about dramaturgy, commonly known as impression management; the self we present to the world versus our true self. No one exhibits this phenomenon more than people who become famous almost overnight. People like Johnny Manziel.
How do you present yourself in the spotlight and meet public expectations when with the person inside you is someone else entirely? And what happens if you are an addict or alcoholic or suffer from depression or another of type mental health illness? What then?
Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results
Johnny is now more of an all-American creation than he ever was before and while there is no doubt Johnny has work to do, so do we. He's not the first athlete to get in a bad way and he certainly won't be the last. As a society, we've almost come to expect it, and to a certain extent, we revel in the drama.
But it's not just Johnny's sickness, it's ours too.
Masters of escapism, Americans like to sweep things under the rug and look the other way. We ignore reality and pretend everything's fine. We are completely anesthetized to violence. We ignore mental health issues. We stigmatize alcoholics and addicts and blame them as moral failures. When are we going to hit a bottom and say enough is enough?
Are we really any different than Johnny?
Our actions—or lack of actions—seem to condone this type of behavior because we keep watching these things happen over and over on instant replay but don't do anything to change them. Watching Johnny's self-destruction is as common as seeing another white police officer shoot an unarmed black man, and God forbid we do anything to change gun laws.
Our actions—or lack of actions—seem to condone this type of behavior because we keep watching these things happen over and over on instant replay but don't do anything to change them. Watching Johnny's self-destruction is as common as seeing another white police officer shoot an unarmed black man, and God forbid we do anything to change gun laws.
I have a lot of questions and few answers. There are a lot of discussions that need to be had. But as with anything else, change starts at home. Raising questions and talking about things instead of ignoring them is a beginning.
And to Johnny, I have but one message. I don't care if you ever play football again or not. Get clean, get sober, find yourself, and follow your heart. Take it one day at a time. Get home for Christmas. And remember, America loves a come back story.
