Manziel’s troubles mount, police open criminal investigation

“We’ve been clear about expectations for our players on and off the field”, executive vice president of football operations, Sashi Brown, said on Tuesday. The elder Manziel is anxious that Johnny could be dead by December if he doesn’t get help. And an ESPN report emerged Friday detailing how the Dallas Cowboys – once hot after the player as a team prospect – disqualified him from consideration after the first charge of domestic assault four months ago.

“On Feb. 5, I met with domestic violence specialists at the Dallas Police Department”, Crowley said in a statement to WFAA, the ABC affiliate in Dallas, on Friday night. A criminal investigation into the incident, in which Manziel is the listed suspect, has been initiated. She said he struck her, including once in the left ear, before they drove back to Fort Worth and he was physical with her during the ride.

A week after police were called for a domestic incident with his ex-girlfriend, she has gotten a protective order against the Browns quarterback. He must stay at least 500 feet from Crowley’s home and place of work, and owes $12,000 in legal fees.

The order was signed by district court Judge Mike Sinha on Wednesday.

On Thursday, police in the neighboring city of Fort Worth released a report in which officers said Colleen Crowley, 23, told them Manziel hit her several times during an early morning incident on January 30.

A scrambling quarterback who can usually wriggle his way out of a predicament, Manziel is under pressure unlike any he’s felt before. He tells the Morning News: “I truly believe if they can’t get him help, he won’t live to see his 24th birthday”.

His father, Paul Manziel, said the family had tried unsuccessfully to put him in rehab since the alleged incident with Crowley.

Johnny Manziel might need the National Football League right now, but the National Football League does not need him. He spent 73 days last winter in a Pennsylvania treatment center specializing in care for alcohol and drug dependency.

Vincent said the league has reached out to both the Browns coaching staff and Manziel’s family asking the quarterback to consider a helping hand. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport posted this Tweet with a statement made from Burkhardt on the decision to drop Manziel.

In Friday’s statement, police suggested the delay in pursuing a formal charge against Manziel rests with the victim, not their lack of investigatory follow-up.