Johnny Manziel doesn’t just dislike the Cleveland Browns anymore. He actively wants them to lose every single game they play, forever, and he’s not trying to hide it.
The former first-round pick and Heisman Trophy winner went on The Night Cap and let it all out. Manziel said he’s spent years going back and forth on whether to forgive the franchise that drafted him 22nd overall in 2014. He’s made up his mind now.
“I sit here today and I go back and forth, am I going to let Cleveland off the hook, let it go or am I going to sit here with hate and animosity in my heart for the rest of my life,” Manziel said. “I finally sit here today and I’m like f*ck it I think I’m gonna be pissed at them and hate them forever. It is what it is man, no love for the Browns.”
Then he dropped the punchline that got everyone talking. “I’m rooting for 0-16 seasons every season.” Not just one bad year. He wants a perpetual trainwreck in Cleveland.
The Browns actually went winless in 2017, two years after they released Manziel. So he’s already gotten his wish once. That 0-16 campaign was one of the worst seasons in NFL history, and Manziel was apparently thrilled about it from afar.
What went wrong in Cleveland
Manziel’s NFL career lasted two seasons. He played 14 games, started eight of them, and put up 1,675 passing yards with seven touchdowns and seven interceptions. His passer rating was 74.4. Not good enough to keep a job, especially when the off-field stuff kept piling up.
Cleveland took a swing on Johnny Football hoping he’d be the answer at quarterback. Instead they got a guy who couldn’t stay out of trouble long enough to develop. The organization moved on after 2015. Manziel hasn’t played an NFL snap since.
But the hatred didn’t fade with time. If anything, it got louder.
ESPN Cleveland posted a clip of the interview and it spread fast. Manziel doesn’t care about the optics. He’s not trying to be the bigger man or take the high road. He’s openly petty about it and seems fine with that.
The Browns have had three winning seasons since 1999. They’ve made the playoffs twice in that span. Manziel wants all that erased. He wants them back in the basement, year after year.
And he’s not alone. A lot of Browns fans probably understand the frustration, even if they don’t agree with rooting against their own team. But Manziel isn’t a fan. He’s a former player who clearly believes Cleveland failed him as much as he failed them.
Either way, he’ll be watching Sundays hoping for another 0-16 disaster. Whether the Browns ever give him that satisfaction again is another story.
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