Johnny Manziel Turned Life Around After Heartfelt Plea From Mom

"I saw how bad that it broke her heart, and it sucked," he told ESPN. "And it really hit home.”

Johnny Manziel attends ChaCha The Wave And Jamie Foxx Foundation's 1st Annual Charity Celebrity Basketball Game at Private Residence on February 17, 2018 in Los Angeles, California.  (Photo by Tara Ziemba/Getty Images)
Johnny Manziel attends ChaCha The Wave And Jamie Foxx Foundation's 1st Annual Charity Celebrity Basketball Game at Private Residence on February 17, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Tara Ziemba/Getty Images)
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It wasn’t his love of the game, advice from a coach or a moment of clarity that potentially saved Johnny Manziel’s chance at having a career in the NFL – it was his mom.

In an interview with ESPN, the Heisman Trophy revealed that it was only after his mother Michelle came to him in tears that he was able to truly able to get motivated to turn his life around.

At the time, Manziel was in a self-described “rut” and was repeatedly making the wrong decision even though he knew what the right one was.

Michelle’s plea was what got him out of the rut.

Manziel said: “My mom came to me one day and asked me – she didn’t really ask, she was just in tears – ‘What are you doing with your life? Why do I have to go around and get this secondhand of words and conversations of the negative things you’re doing around the world that’s coming back to me?’ And I saw how bad that it broke her heart, and it sucked. And it really hit home.”

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Evan Bleier

Evan Bleier

Evan is a senior editor with InsideHook who earned a master’s degree in journalism from NYU and has called Brooklyn home since 2006. A fan of Boston sports, Nashville hot chicken and Kentucky bourbon, Evan has had his work published in publications including “Maxim,” Bleacher Report and “The Daily Mail.”
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