Skip Bayless has blamed himself for missing the signs and not realizing what he now reckons was a “cry for help” from former NFL quarterback Johnny Manziel.
Manziel reveals having attempted suicide after hitting rock bottom in a new documentary that launched on Netflix this week called ‘Untold: Johnny Football’. The episode has disclosed some startling details about Manziel, though fans hate that it doesn’t shed any light on his short NFL career.
Speaking on his podcast, ‘The Skip Bayless Show‘, Bayless claimed to have spoken to Manziel around the time he says things began to spiral for him but didn’t realize something was wrong, despite observing certain things.
He recalls having shown up to record an episode of Cold as Balls with Kevin Hart and met the quarterback there as Manziel was also set to tape a show with the comedian and actor. Skip said the player came to his room to say hello while he was in there doing push-ups so he could look “halfway decent” without a shirt on.
“He didn’t look very good,” Bayless noted. “He looked a little pale. A little weak. A little worn. And I was shocked.”
“We had some adult small talk. ‘How’s the weather’ kind of talk. ‘How you doing’ kind of talk,” Bayless continued. “He was on his best behavior. He was talking to the adults. But as I look back on that moment, I look at it as a quiet cry for help and I wish I’d been listening, but I wasn’t. When I went down to tape my episode with Kevin, Johnny stayed.”
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Bayless said that, though the QB was done with his episode, he stuck around to watch his conversation with Hart.
“I know Johnny looked up to me,” he aded. “I know Johnny appreciated the fact that I was mostly in his corner, up until the Draft. And I just wish I’d known enough to sit down and actually have a heart-to-heart with Johnny. Maybe I could have helped. I’m pretty good at that if I know help is wanted and or needed. But I didn’t see it. I didn’t listen to my instincts.”
To be fair, Skip was a big fan of the athlete and even tipped him to become the most popular sportsperson in Cleveland since LeBron James. As for Johnny looking up to him, he’s on his own there.
