'Win Or Lose, We Booze' - Johnny Manziel Documentary Tells All About Former Texas A&M Rock Star Quarterback

A better title for the Johnny Manziel documentary on Netflix called "Untold: Johnny Football" may be "Told All: Johnny Manic."

Or maybe as Manziel himself says, "Johnny F-in Football."

The 72-minute program released this week plays like 36 editions of a great two-minute offense, which Manziel engineered spectacularly while Texas A&M's quarterback in 2012 and '13.

Produced and directed by Ryan Duffy, it is the fastest moving and expertly edited sports documentary since ESPN's "Pony Excess" in 2010 on SMU's outlaw football program. Manziel would have fit in perfectly as SMU's quarterback in the early 1980s.

A loveable outlaw, Manziel had an alcohol-related arrest record on arrival before his first season at Texas A&M in 2012 from the Northgate bar strip as a redshirt freshman. Then he became the first freshman in history to win the Heisman Trophy just months later days after his 20th birthday. More arrests would follow.

The Browns picked him with the 22nd selection of the NFL Draft's first round in 2014, bringing new meaning to the Cleveland moniker - "The Mistake on the Lake." He signed an $8.2 million, four-year contract with $7.9 million guaranteed and took home a $4.3 million bonus.

Former Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel displays his signature, money celebration signal after a touchdown against Rice in the 2013 season at Kyle Field in College Station, Texas. (Photo by Scott Halleran/Getty Images)

How much Manziel still has of that is a mystery to most.

Cleveland Picked Texas A&M Quarterback 22nd In NFL Draft

"I'll never forget. We're leaving the draft (near Times Square in New York City), and Johnny's crushing shots in this limo with his family," says Manziel's now-former agent Erik Burkhardt, whose candid quotes are a jewel of the program. "And we look up, and it was the first Nike ad on the side of this building."

Manziel saw his huge mug with the swoosh. Can it get any better?

"I was like, 'Wow. let's go," Burkhardt says.

But that's where Manziel's football arc all but ended in a collage of alcohol, cash, zero football preparation, benders, arrests, two-minute therapy and Vegas. And in the end, vast nothingness.

"When I got everything I wanted, I think it was the most empty that I ever felt inside," Manziel says.

What happened in Vegas didn't stay there for Manziel in January of 2016, and Cleveland released him that March. As the doc speeds to its crashing and sad ending, one just wants it to be over already and for Johnny Football to become Johnny Adult. It appears he may be headed that way, but with more of a time-consuming drive than a couple of deep passes.

Johnny Manziel Became Johnny Football At Texas A&M

Still, it is an amazing wild ride of pre-NIL college football, illegal autograph cash flow and a quintessential cautionary tale.

The documentary is full of revealing interviews with Burkhardt, Manziel, Manziel's parents Paul and Michelle, sister Meri, TexAgs.com editor Billy Liucci and college drinking buddy/autograph entrepreneur Nate Fitch, aka "Uncle Nate."

Burkhardt describes Manziel's activities between a successful, chemical-hiding NFL Combine and the draft in 2014 as "a weekend at Bernie's."

Hungover, Manziel threw passes to Burkhardt and a lawyer during a private workout for Cleveland because his invited wide receivers had partied too much the previous night.

"It was ridiculous," Burkhardt said.

The documentary reveals what continues to be revealed. Some NFL teams do not know how to draft or prepare for it despite all the technology. How did JaMarcus Russell become the first pick of the 2007 NFL Draft? How could NFL execs not learn neither Russell nor Manziel were film buffs?

Johnny Football Didn't Watch Film

"There were GMs (general managers) calling me saying, 'He doesn't watch tape,?'" Burkhardt says.

And Manziel makes the zero sign with his index finger and thumb in the documentary.

Former NFL head coach Kliff Kingsbury, who was Manziel's offensive coordinator at A&M, says Manziel had the talent to be a starting NFL quarterback, maybe a very good one.

"But he just never worked at it," he said.

Yet so-called NFL Draft experts such as Mike Mayock and Rich Eisen drank it all in. Mayock predicted Dallas would take Manziel with the 16th pick of the first round. Not even Jerry Jones was that stupid.

"The Browns finally get the face of their franchise," gushed Eisen.

Not exactly.

The fun ended quick. What worked in college for Manziel, Russell and countless other quarterback busts did not play in the NFL.

Manziel was the ultimate freelancer. His football philosophy was simple, and it did work for him ... until he got to Cleveland.

"Just run around and play backyard football," Manziel says. "Don't let that guy tackle your and throw it to the guy that's open. I didn't have to think about it."

Or anything.

This Story Has No Happy Ending

There is no happy or resolution ending to speak of, and perhaps much more attention should have been paid to a bipolar diagnosis that is heard only in passing.

"I was going to spend all the money I could," Johnny Manziel says of his post-Browns free fall. "And then my plan was to take my life."

Instead, he returns home to his parents as a most prodigal son before moving on.

"When it came down to it, I was a frat boy," Manziel, now 30 and living in Scottsdale, Arizona, admits. "And my frat was the football team. But I couldn't just keep living the frat boy life year after year. I live with a lot of regret. But at the same time, I live with a lot of pride."

What's amazing is how quietly his Behind The Music tragedy started.

At the 2012 SEC Media Days in Birmingham before his fabulous redshirt freshman, Manziel was largely an unknown. Texas A&M coach Kevin Sumlin's wide-open offense from the Houston Cougars with Kingsbury as coordinator drew the attention. That and Texas A&M's and Missouri's entry into the Southeastern Conference.

Texas A&M Signed Manziel As A 3-Star Prospect

Manziel was the National High School Athletic Association Player of the Year at Tivy High in Kerrville in 2010 and a Parade All-American. Amazingly, Tivy High was much like a military school, which is where Manziel's dad wanted him. And Johnny survived it.

"But everything from Tivy was eliminated in about six months time," Manziel says.

At just 5-foot-11, though, Manziel signed as only a three-star prospect out of Tivy High. He did well in spring drills in 2012, but the job was open.

"That's a good question," Brent Zwerneman of the Houston Chronicle told me when I asked who he thought the starting quarterback may be.

Redshirt sophomore Jameill Showers was the "leader in the clubhouse." Freshman Matt Davis and sophomore Matt Joeckel were also in the mix. Soon, though, Manziel took over everything and opened season as the starter. And the "win or lose, we booze" Manziel mantra was on.

After directing the No. 15 Aggies' shocking, 29-24 upset at No. 1 Alabama on Nov. 10, 2012, nothing was ever the same, Liucci said.

"Oh, my gracious," CBS announcer Verne Lundquist said after one memorable Manziel scramble and throw.

Johnny Manziel in Palm Springs, California, in 2016. (Getty Images)

Manziel struggled to find his parents through the swarm of Aggies fans on the road after the game.

"He had this fear in his eyes that I've never seen before," his mother said.

A rock star was born. Manziel won the Heisman Trophy the following December, and the Aggies finished 11-2. That was their best season since a 10-0-1 mark in 1994 and first win in a traditional New Year's Day Bowl (Cotton) since 1987.

Johnny Mania Made Texas A&M Money

Partly because of the entry into the SEC but mainly because of Johnny Mania, the Texas A&M Foundation raised a record $740.6 million in 2012 - $300 million more than in any previous year period in history. A report said A&M garnered $37 million of free publicity in the 2012 football season. On May 1, 2013, A&M approved a $485 million renovation to Johnny, err, Kyle Field. Kingsbury became a millionaire off the 2012 season, meanwhile, as he accepted the Texas Tech head coaching job.

And Manziel made no money legally. This was pre-Name, Image & Likeness by nearly a decade, and he was the poster boy for NIL.

"I have a deep hatred versus the NCAA," Manziel says.

But Manziel made $30,000 to $100,000 through various autograph sessions while he played for Texas A&M. Uncle Nate explained away the trips Johnny Student-Athlete took to Cabo, Los Angeles, Washington D.C. and other locales while wearing fancy watches and jewelry. His family was rich. All a complete fabrication, the documentary says.

National media stars Colin Cowherd and Skip Bayless sopped it all up by saying that was "oil money."

Yes, J.R. Ewing's son was a quarterback. Fiction, but what a story. By the 2013 SEC Media Days, reporters swarmed Manziel as he had just been bumped from the Manning Passing Academy for supposed partying too late. His story grew and grew, until it didn't.

There Is Hope For Johnny Manziel

"Untold: Johnny Football" soars with the truth without preaching.

"I thought they did a great job with the documentary," Liucci told OutKick Thursday. "I was very pleased with it. It kicked ass. It was hard hitting. It left you wishing it was longer."

And hoping for the best for Johnny Manziel, though he created his own mess.

"He doesn't have it all figured out yet," Liucci said. "He's not working. He's still just being Johnny, and he makes money doing that - autographs, appearances."

Manziel and other investors will also open a bar before the 2023 football season called the "Money Bar" in fittingly the same Northgate area near A&M in which he was arrested in 2012. Some say when he's ready, he could work at A&M in some capacity, perhaps as a fund raiser.

"Johnny is more introspective than people think," Liucci said. "He's not just partying all the time. He's improving. If you would've told me where he is now five years ago, I wouldn't have believed it. So, that gives me some hope."