During a sit-down interview with TJ Holmes of ABC’s “Good Morning America,” Heisman-winner and former Cleveland Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel talked his sobriety and a comeback to the NFL.
Manziel told Holmes in the interview that aired Monday that he battled depression which he “self-medicated” with alcohol. He added he got tired of “sitting on a couch being a loser” and watching others play in the league, so he sobered up.
“I was self-medicating with alcohol because that’s what I thought was making me happy to help me get out of that depression to a point where I felt like I had some sense of happiness,” said Manziel. “But at the end of the day, when you wake up the next day after a night like that or after going on a trip like that, and you wake up the next day and that’s all gone.”
“And that liquid courage or that liquid sense of euphoria that’s over you that’s all gone and you’re left staring at the ceiling by yourself and you’re back in that depression and back in that hole, that dark hole of sitting in a room by yourself and being super depressed again thinking about all the mistakes you made in your life. Where did that get me? Where did that get me except out of the NFL? Where did it get me? Disgraced,” he added.
Manziel also revealed he was diagnosed with being bipolar a year ago and has been taking medication for it.
As far as a comeback, Manziel said he wants to get back on the football field, and ultimately the NFL.
“I’m coming back from a huge downfall. I don’t know what kind of comeback it will be. But I know I want to get back on the football field and do what brought me so much joy,” he told Holmes.
Manziel has been out of the league since 2015 and currently holds an offer to play for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League.
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