An adventurous golf round may have been the deciding factor in the Houston Texans’ decision to draft Johnny Manziel first overall nine years ago.
Houston held the top selection in the 2014 NFL Draft. The class lacked a true can’t-miss quarterback prospect, and the draft that year was headlined by can’t-miss South Carolina pass rusher Jadeveon Clowney.
The Texans took Clowney first overall, and Manziel didn’t hear his name until the 22nd spot, when the Cleveland Browns used their second first-round selection on him.
Erik Burkhardt was Manziel’s agent back in 2014 as the latter was gearing up for a jump to the pros. Burkhardt appeared in the Netflix documentary “Untold: Johnny Football”, which premieres on Aug. 8.
As noted by Matt Young of the Houston Chronicle, there’s a clip in the documentary where Burkhardt recalls a whacky golf round that caused Houston to turn away from the idea of taking Manziel first overall.
Burkhardt told a story of where Manziel attended a charity event that included participation from the Texans. Manziel even donated to the charity which pleased Texans owner Bob McNair. But Manziel’s subsequent behavior all but cemented the Texans’ decision to pass on him:
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“The next day I get a call. ‘He was golfing today at River Oaks Country Club. And it got back to the owner’s family basically that Johnny by hole 5 had taken his shirt off, looked intoxicated and broke multiple clubs over his knee and threw them in the pond. There goes Houston.”
There as plenty of hype and excitement around Manziel when the Browns drafted him. Unfortunately, his off-the-field issues quickly prevented Manziel from emerging as an NFL star, and the Browns released him after just two seasons in 2016.
The 2012 Heisman Trophy winner was 2-6-0 as a starter with seven touchdowns against as many interceptions in his brief NFL career.
