Skip Bayless regrets not being able to help Johnny Manziel - “Maybe I could have helped”

Johnny Manziel's story is a cautionary tale to every athlete who thinks they can make it into stardom while not pushing their hardest. The former Texas A&M and Cleveland Browns quarterback had all the potential in the world, but he loved to party and hated to practice, making things difficult for his career.

During his two years in the NFL, everyone went hard after him, except for one famous person who was always in his corner: Skip Bayless. The former ESPN and current FOX Sports personality spoke on his own podcast 'The Skip Bayless Show' about his regret for not helping Manziel more:

“I know Johnny looked up to me,” Bayless claimed. “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 Manziel. 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.”

Johnny Manziel's career: former first-round quarterback was released after just two years

It's not hard to understand why the former quarterback failed so hard to do anything in the NFL if you track back all his actions in just two years.

Just like Ryan Leaf after the 1998 NFL Draft, Manziel decided to go to Las Vegas before training camp. During the 2014 preseason, with the Cleveland Browns, he showed the middle finger to an opponent on his bench. It was a show of immaturity, awful for a professional player in football's most demanding position.

There were allegations that Manziel got drunk in training before the last game of the 2014 season. He had to be picked up by the franchise's security guards, who woke him up to go to training.

"I really believe if they can't help him, he won't live to see his 24th birthday," Johnny Manziel's father said in February 2016. His own father said that other people needed to help his son. Let that sink in.

During his NFL career, Manziel started eight games, losing six but beating the Marcus Mariota-led Tennessee Titans once. There were 57% of completed passes, seven touchdowns and seven interceptions. His college football's pyrotechnics didn't work against NFL defenses: he averaged just over 30 rushing yards in those eight games.