|
 Manziel's agent, Erik Burkhardt, told Cleveland.com on Sunday that
Manziel responded to the fan's harassment on Saturday by alerting
security officials at the PGA event in Irving, Texas.
The 22-year-old Manziel, a Texas native, was photographed talking to
police outside the Four Seasons hotel on Saturday, and the photos
began circulating Sunday morning on social media.
Burkhardt told Northeast Ohio Media Group that he and Manziel were
attending church in Dallas on Sunday morning.
Irving police spokesman James McLellan said an 18-year-old male fan
began harassing Manziel near the Four Seasons' pool, which is part
of the golf course property. Manziel eventually threw a water bottle
at the fan, escalating the confrontation, but one of Manziel's
friends stepped in to intervene on his behalf and hotel security
also got involved, McLellan said.
Police were called and officers spoke to both parties. Neither
decided to press charges. Police did not detect any sign of
intoxication with Manziel, McLellan said.
"Johnny threw a water bottle toward this young man. It did not hit
him; it hit a wall behind him," McClellan said. "There is a quote
online that said the 18-year-old said, 'Nice throw.' I think that
kind of escalated things further. At that point, the friend pushed
the 18-year-old."
A Browns source dismissed the incident as a non-story, telling ESPN
that Manziel should not be held responsible for obnoxious fans who
approach him aggressively.
---Browns quarterback Josh McCown, firmly the No. 1 quarterback in
the team's offseason workouts, hopes it stays that way instead of a
battle with Johnny Manziel that would receive lots of media
scrutiny.
Head coach Mike Pettine made it clear weeks ago that McCown would be
team's No. 1 passer throughout offseason workouts, minicamp and into
training camp and there would be no quarterback controversy.
Pettine said McCown is the favorite to be the Browns starting
quarterback over Manziel, a second-year player who continues on the
road back from his 10-week stay in rehab.
"More than anything, for me, I just believe it takes away from any
kind of distraction that you can have and the team can just move in
one direction, regardless of who that guy is,'' McCown told the
Cleveland Plain Dealer last week on the first day of organized team
activities. "It's helpful to just say, 'this is our guy until
something happens and he's not our guy.'
"But I agree with that philosophy and that approach. It doesn't take
anything away from our group and it doesn't take away from what
Johnny and Thad (Lewis) and Connor (Shaw) are doing. We're all
working together."
McCown, 35, was released by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Feb. 11. The
13-year NFL veteran signed a three-year contract with the Browns
worth $14 million, with $5.25 million due in 2015. Overall, the deal
guarantees $6.25 million and could be worth up to $20 million.
---Buffalo Bills head coach Rex Ryan plans to learn from his
mistakes with the New York Jets and use that experience to shape his
new team.
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Since arriving in Buffalo in January, Ryan has said the Bills are
closing on the Super Bowl-champion New England Patriots.
Ryan had a 46-50 record with the Jets. New York advanced to the AFC
Championship Game in each of his first two seasons, 2009 and 2010.
Over the past four seasons, however, the Jets finished 8-8 twice,
6-10 and 4-12.
"I've had six years of experience," Ryan told Albert Breer of
NFL.com last week at organized team activity practice. "So am I
gonna be better now? Of course. You're not gonna be worse by having
experience. The other thing is understanding what's important,
because the second time, I was lucky -- I got to choose where to go.
The thing about that was, go to an organization where you see the
direction, and it's the same direction (you believe in).
"When I look back on it, I looked at when I should've been more
upfront with the (Jets) owner. I think that was a big thing: 'Look,
we got some issues, this needs to be resolved.' I knew what was
gonna happen. We all knew it.
"But now, there's no way in hell (that happens again). If I'm going
down, I'm going down swinging. And if it happens, it's gonna be,
'Here's some issues we need to fix.' And hit them head on."
---Former Green Bay Packers coach Mike Sherman is returning to the
sideline as a high school coach in Massachusetts.
The 60-year-old Sherman, who coached the Packers from 2000 to 2005,
accepted the head coaching job at Nauset Regional High School,
athletic director Keith Kenyon told the Cape Cod Times.
"It took me a while to pull the trigger," Sherman said. "It hasn't
been an easy decision because I wanted to make sure I was all 100
percent in."
Sherman led the Packers to a 57-39 record and four playoff
appearances before he was fired after a 4-12 season. He was the head
coach at Texas A&M for four years and then returned to the NFL as
Miami Dolphins offensive coordinator in 2013. Last year, Sherman
worked as a consultant for NFL and college teams.
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