Johnny Manziel has refused to enter rehab and may be suicidal, his father told the Dallas Morning News on Friday after the publication of a disturbing report that says Manziel’s ex-girlfriend told police he assaulted and threatened to kill her.
The report by a Dallas ABC affiliate says the ex-girlfriend, Colleen Crowley, told police that Manziel had dragged, restrained, and hit her early on the morning of Jan. 30:
She says she thought he was on drugs or maybe having a psychotic break. She told police she then began telling him she loved him.
She says at that time Manziel “started laughing” and then reportedly yelled at her to “shut up or I’ll kill us both.”
Crowley did not follow through with a criminal complaint against Manziel—he was not arrested—but reportedly may apply for a restraining order against him. Manziel denied to TMZ that he had hit or threatened Crowley, who also told an Ohio police officer that Manziel had hit her when the pair’s vehicle was pulled over in October 2015. (Manziel played last season for the Cleveland Browns but is expected to be cut from the team.) Manziel was not arrested or charged in that incident either.
“I truly believe if they can’t get him help, he won’t live to see his 24th birthday,” Manziel’s father, Paul, told the Morning News, saying that family members made two unsuccessful attempts to enroll the former Texas A&M star at rehab centers in the past week. The younger Manziel spent two months in a rehab facility in early 2015. (He did not disclose what issues he sought treatment for.)
Manziel’s agent, Erik Burkhardt, announced Friday morning in a statement that he will no longer represent the quarterback professionally. “His family and I have gone to great lengths to outline the steps we feel he must take to get his life in order,” Burkhardt wrote. “I truly wish the best for Johnny and sincerely hope he can, and will, find the kind of peace and happiness he deserves.”
