Monday on ESPN’s “First Take,” co-host Stephen A. Smith reacted to former Cleveland Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel telling “Good Morning America” that he has been diagnosed as bipolar and has sobered up.
Smith said at the beginning he would “not be very sympathetic” towards Manziel, and went on to suggest that Manziel is using the bipolar diagnosis to “garner the sympathy of the public at large,” using it as a “convenient explanation” for his alcohol issues as he attempts to get back in the NFL.
“[T]hrough no fault of Johnny Manziel, we’ve heard about bipolar disorder on a lot of occasions. And sometimes we found ourselves looking at people and finding it to be a convenient explanation as to what really happened. What you are looking to do is get back. Now see, to me, I take the medical conditions that people bring up, stuff like this bipolar disorder and things. What I do is this. You know when I take it significantly more significantly, max, molly, when you ain’t after something. When you are just telling your story. But when you are trying to get back something you lost or get back something that was taken away from you,” Smith said before being cut off.
He later added, “That may not be applicable to Johnny Manziel, but there are people throughout our history that we have encountered that we had those questions about. Are they saying something because it’s true and authentic or saying something because it’s real?”
Follow Trent Baker on Twitter @MagnifiTrent